Devendra Kumar
A trial at the High Court in London is underway, featuring four individuals, including Britain’s Prince Harry, bringing claims against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) and its titles The Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People. The claims centre around phone hacking, securing information through deception, and hiring private investigators for unlawful activities. MGN is contesting the cases, arguing that there is no evidence of voicemail interception and that some of the allegations are baseless.
In opening submissions, Andrew Green KC, representing MGN, said that while there is some evidence of third parties being instructed to carry out unlawful information gathering, there is no evidence in the case of Michael Turner. Green also noted that the third parties, including private investigators and freelance journalists, were used for “plainly not unlawful” activities, such as searching for publicly accessible material. He claimed that searches for publicly accessible information, including electoral rolls and company records, were “absolutely nothing unlawful”.
The barrister also referred to a previous case in 2015, in which Mr Justice Mann awarded a record £1.2 million in compensation to eight celebrity victims for “serious infringements of their privacy rights”. Green acknowledged that this ruling was “painful reading” but argued that the four claims in this trial are a “very long way” from the eight cases in the previous trial in terms of evidence.
David Sherborne, representing the people bringing claims, argued that unlawful information gathering was carried out on an “industrial scale” across three newspapers over a period of about 20 years. He claimed that a “flood of illegality” occurred and that those responsible for management and finances of the company were well aware of what was going on. Sherborne also alleged that MGN had deleted or destroyed “masses of documents” despite complaints of wrongdoing.
The trial is expected to last seven weeks, with Harry, along with other claimants, expected to give evidence before Mr Justice Fancourt. The claims are being heard as “representative” cases of the types of allegations facing the publisher, with MGN having already paid out over £100 million in damages and costs in similar claims.