Prince Harry arrives at High Court for hearing against Associated Newspapers over ‘hacking claims’
Prince Harry and Sadie Frost arrive at High Court for hearing against Associated Newspapers over ‘hacking claims’
Prince Harry and other public figures suing Mail newspapers were present at the Supreme Court today for a case in which they allege they were targeted by hacking.
Publisher Associated Newspapers categorically denies the claims made by a group including the Duke, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
Harry, in a black suit and blue tie, smiled as he arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand after an overnight flight from the United States to London. Actress Sadie Frost also appeared in court.
Prince Harry’s arrival at the court was captured by television cameras and photographers, with Sky News pointing out that the Duke was not giving evidence but still decided to arrive through the main entrance, unlike Miss Frost, who used a side entrance .
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives at the High Court in London today
Sadie Frost was also at the Royal Courts of Justice for the start of the four-day pre-trial hearing
The judge is told that Associated, publisher of the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, engaged in phone tapping, car tapping and other illegal activities.
The publisher said it will vigorously defend itself if the case goes to court. Today’s hearing, expected to last four days, is a pre-trial hearing in which the publisher asks Justice Nicklin to dismiss the claims.
The Duke of Sussex and Mrs. Frost sat behind their lawyers, listening intently as the hearing in Court 76 went on. They were not expected to speak.
The seven plaintiffs launched their action last year. Their lawyer David Sherborne alleged in written submissions to the court that the newspaper group engaged in “illegally intercepting voicemail messages, tapping live landline telephone conversations, obtaining private information… and using private investigators to investigate on their behalf.” to commit these unlawful acts of information gathering”.
Associated Newspapers has said it “completely and unequivocally” denies the “baseless and highly defamatory allegations, based on no credible evidence,” which it described at the time as “ridiculous slander” and an “orchestrated attempt to drag the mail titles to the phone.” . hacking scandal’.
The Mail called for the killers of Baroness Lawrence’s son Stephen to be brought to justice. In its statement last October, the publisher said it had “the utmost respect and admiration” for Baroness Lawrence and was saddened that she had been persuaded to join the action by “whoever cynically and unscrupulously orchestrates these claims.”
The paper’s attorneys file three requests at the pre-trial hearing.
One is to urge the judge to drop the case because all the claims relate to events that would have happened up to 30 years ago. By law, privacy claims must be made within six years.
The second application relates to documents – accounting ledgers – confidentially provided by the Mail to the Leveson Inquiry 12 years ago. Those documents are now being used in this case — in violation of a restraining order and confidentiality commitments to the investigation, the newspaper group says.
The third filing aims to grant anonymity to journalists named in the claims until the judge decides whether to continue the case.
The newspaper says this is not an attempt to curtail public justice, but to avoid destroying the reputations of leading journalists if the case does not reach a full trial. If the case went to court, the journalists would be named, but at that stage they would have a chance to defend themselves.