Major setback for Prince Harry and Sir Elton John’s privacy case against Associated Newspapers as judge rules they cannot use confidential information supplied to Leveson Inquiry

Prince Harry, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John and others suffered a major setback when a High Court judge ruled parts of their privacy case against Associated Newspapers inadmissible.

Judge Nicklin said it would be an “abuse of process” and “bring the administration of justice into disrepute” if their case were to continue in its current form.

The judge said the seven claimants, who all allege hacking by Associated – the publisher of the Mail on Sunday and Ny Breaking – could take the remainder of their cases to trial, rejecting a request from the newspaper group to to be thrown out, rejected.

But he ruled there was “significant public interest” in preventing the claimants from deploying confidential documents in breach of an order made by the Leveson inquiry 12 years ago.

Associated Newspapers, which has strongly denied the “ridiculous” allegations, said in a statement: “We welcome Mr Nicklin’s decision that the information we and other newspapers provided to the Leveson Inquiry on strict grounds of confidentiality , remains subject to the imposed restriction order. by Lord Justice Leveson.

“In a major victory for the Justice Department and the Post, the judge ruled that the information should not have been used by the plaintiffs and should be dropped from the case. As Mr Justice Nicklin said in his judgment, this was an ‘abuse of process’ and if used ‘would bring the administration of justice into disrepute’.

‘As we have always made it unequivocally clear, the lurid claims made by Prince Harry and others about phone hacking, landline tapping, burglary and window microphone taping are simply ridiculous and we look forward to addressing this in due course. court to determine.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on March 29

‘We are grateful to the judge for the careful consideration he has given our requests.’

The Duke of Sussex and the six others, including Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost and Sir Simon Hughes, launched their hacking case in October last year. They cited ‘confessions’ from a private investigator, Gavin Burrows, who had ‘admitted’ to hacking phones, tapping landlines and bugging cars. Mr Burrows later bluntly refuted claims that he had confessed to hacking for Associated Newspapers in a statement to the court describing them as false, prompting the judge to warn Harry and the others that they “may have to lower their expectations adjust’.

The case has yet to go to trial and in March this year, Associated filed a series of requests with the judge. One of these was to object to the claimants’ use of copies of financial ledgers from the publisher of the Mail titles provided to the 2011/12 Leveson inquiry into press standards. Under Leveson Inquiry protocol, the documents were treated as confidential and the chairman, Lord Justice Leveson, ordered that documents such as those provided to the inquiry should not ‘be published or made public’.

Sir Elton John leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London on March 27

In his ruling, Judge Nicklin upheld the newspaper’s objection. He said: ‘In my judgment… the Court must recognize and give effect to the significant public interest in ensuring that a restriction order under the Inquiries Act 2005 (such as Leveson’s) is complied with and not breached.’

He added that it would be “an abuse of process and would justify striking out the relevant portions of a trial deposition” if the material were admitted, saying: “Looked at another way, I am satisfied that it would require the administration would bring disrepute to justice… if the Court were to permit the use, in civil proceedings, of material in breach of a restriction order which remains in force.’

The case will continue and a further preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 21.