The publisher of The Mirror carried out “illegal activities” on an “industrial scale”, with Prince Harry and three other celebrities accusing the media group of wiretapping in proceedings filed in London’s High Court on Wednesday.
David Sherborne, a barrister representing Prince Harry, said senior executives at the media group, including then Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, were aware of the use of illegal information-gathering methods.
Sherborne claims the group “leaves morality at the door” and that illegality “has been carried out on an industrial scale over a period of about 20 years”.
The media group defending the case had apologized to Prince Harry for using a private eye to target him at a London nightclub in 2004, the High Court heard.
Mirror Group Newspapers said in written arguments that the People’s Daily paid a private investigator £75 in February 2004 in connection with “the investigation of Harry in Chinawhite”.
“Acknowledging that this was an instruction to engage in UIG (Unlawful Information Gathering), MGN apologizes unreservedly and accepts that the DOS (Duke of Sussex) is entitled to appropriate compensation for this,” said attorney Andrew Green KC. mirror group.
Sherborne told the High Court that the four plaintiffs would demonstrate the scope of Mirror Group’s illegal activities.
a claimant, Coronation Street Actor Nikki Sanderson was targeted by private investigators appointed by the media group when she was just 15 years old, a court heard.
Sherborne told the High Court that Prince Harry had been targeted for years: “We all remember the image of him walking behind his mother’s coffin. From that moment, as a schoolboy, from his career in the army, and as a Young adult, he was – clearly – influenced by the most intrusive method of obtaining his personal information,” the barrister said.
He added: “Prince or not – this is blatantly illegal and frankly appalling that the defendant used illegal methods to obtain every piece of information about his life outside of his royal duties.”
The barrister claims Mirror Group spent £9.7m on private investigators between 1996 and 2011.
“This suggests that the TM (Trinity Mirror) board (actively seeking to cut costs and save money during this period) must have been aware of these activities, which were deemed illegal by senior members of MGN and TM management,” Sherborne said in written arguments claim.
Mirror Group argued that it was too late to file a lawsuit and said the board and executives were ignorant of such illegal activity.
Green said the group “maintains that claimants are now unable to recover compensation for any injuries caused by publishing articles whose claims are past the statute of limitations.”
He added: “In each of the four allegations, there is no or insufficient evidence that the voicemails were intercepted. Each claim therefore denies this core allegation.”
Mirror Group said there were “apparently shotgun charges against each of the board members who had served for more than 20 years”. However, it added that the claimant “has not provided any direct evidence” that any board member “made false or dishonest statements” about their knowledge of the illegal information gathering.
In contrast, MGN provided evidence that board members denied any such knowledge, it said. Morgan has always denied knowing about the Mirror’s phone hacking.
Mirror Group also denied in its paperwork that it spent £9.7m on private investigators.
Many of the articles Prince Harry objected to came from “information disclosed by or on behalf of the Royal Family or members of the Royal Family; information and photographs sold to newspapers by freelance journalists and news organizations”, the Mirror Group added.
The hearing is the second phone-hacking civil trial facing Mirror Group. Following a civil trial in 2015, the company paid £1.2m in damages to eight victims of phone hacking by journalists.
Along with Prince Harry, the other three claimants are Sanderson, Coronation Street Fiona Whiteman, ex-wife of actor Michael Turner and comedian Paul Whitehouse.