Devendra Kumar
The High Court has heard how Prince Harry would feel injustice if a judge finds that people suing the Daily Mirror’s publisher, Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), did not have their phones hacked by the company’s journalists. Harry, who is 38 years old, is suing MGN for damages, alleging that journalists at its titles, including the Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, were linked to methods such as phone hacking, “blagging,” and using private investigators for unlawful activities.
During the second day of his evidence, Harry was asked about how he would feel if the judge did not find that his phone was hacked by people working for MGN. He replied that it would be speculation, but later added that he believed phone hacking was carried out on an “industrial scale” at several of the papers at the time and that it was “beyond any doubt.” Harry stated that if the court were to find that he was never hacked by MGN journalists, he would feel some injustice, given that the company has admitted to hacking.
MGN has previously settled several claims related to unlawful information-gathering, but a 2015 trial of representative claims, including those brought by former Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati and former footballer Paul Gascoigne, led to an award of a record £1.2 million in compensation. Harry’s claim is being heard alongside three other representative claims, involving Coronation Street actor Michael Turner, former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman. The three-day trial is expected to last six to seven weeks.
The dispute centers on Harry’s claim that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 by MGN titles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 of these have been selected to be considered at the trial. The duke was asked questions over an April 2006 People article reporting his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy’s “fury” over his “boozy evening at a lap-dancing club.” MGN is contesting Harry’s claim, denying or not admitting that the articles about him being examined at the trial involved phone hacking or unlawful activity.