Phone hacking authorised at highest levels of publisher, court hears

Unlawful accusation gathering was wide and authorised by those astatine the highest levels of Mirror Group Newspapers, a tribunal has heard.

Prince Harry is among high-profile radical accusing the steadfast of utilizing backstage investigators and telephone hacking to summation stories astir them.

His barrister David Sherborne said millions of pounds were paid to backstage investigators, with the payments signed disconnected by elder figures astatine MGN.

It is alleged that journalists from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers obtained backstage and confidential accusation astir people's lives done a assortment of amerciable means.

The bulk of the trial's grounds are 207 paper stories, published betwixt 1991 and 2011 - immoderate 67% of which were written astir Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

Mr Sherborne told the High Court 1 of the astir "serious and troubling" features of the lawsuit is the grade to which "widespread, habitual and unlawful" activities were "authorised astatine the highest level".

This included "the systemic and wide usage of PIs (private investigators) by MGN journalists to unlawfully get backstage information" of assorted individuals, Mr Sherborne told London's High Court.

The unlawful activities besides included MGN journalists intercepting landline voicemails, adjacent if the telephone numbers were ex-directory, helium said.

Claims brought by Harry and 3 others are being heard successful the trial, expected to past six to 7 weeks, arsenic being "representative" cases of the types of allegations facing the publisher.

The different claimants are erstwhile Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Turner, known by his signifier sanction Michael Le Vell, and comedian Paul Whitehouse's ex-wife Fiona Wightman.

They are each expected to springiness evidence. When the prince does truthful successful June, helium volition go the archetypal elder subordinate of the Royal Family to look successful tribunal and beryllium cross-examined successful modern times.

The 4 cases were chosen by the proceedings justice to assistance the tribunal acceptable the level of damages MGN should wage if the claimants win, arsenic good arsenic found the assorted allegations facing the publisher.

The tribunal would past see different cases from celebrities including the erstwhile Girls Aloud vocalist Cheryl, histrion Ricky Tomlinson, erstwhile Arsenal and England footballer Ian Wright and the property of precocious singer-songwriter George Michael.

MGN has denied the allegations, including those of voicemail interception. However connected Wednesday, the steadfast acknowledged and "unreservedly" apologised for a abstracted lawsuit of unlawful accusation gathering against Harry, adding that the ineligible situation brought by the prince "warrants compensation".

A cardinal absorption successful the lead-up to the proceedings and 1 of the allegations successful Harry's lawsuit has been whether Piers Morgan - exertion of the Daily Mirror from 1995 until 2004 - and different elder executives knew of immoderate alleged amerciable enactment taking place.

In Thursday's hearing, Mr Sherbourne discussed a Daily Mirror beforehand leafage communicative from 1999 - erstwhile Mr Morgan was exertion - which revealed confidential details astir the finances of Prince Michael of Kent, including that helium was successful indebtedness to a bank.

Prince Michael's lawyers aboriginal told MGN they had deduced that a "blagger" had called the slope and, posing arsenic the royal's accountant, obtained confidential information.

MGN yet settled the claim, published an apology and paid his ineligible costs, the barrister said.

"It's inconceivable, fixed the mode this progressed, that the ineligible section and Mr Morgan were not good alert of the root of the story, and that it came from illegally obtained information," Mr Sherborne told the court.

Mr Morgan has consistently denied immoderate cognition of telephone hacking during his clip editing the newspaper, but this volition beryllium the archetypal clip a tribunal has been asked to regularisation connected claims astir what helium knew.

Speaking to the BBC's Amol Rajan earlier the proceedings began, Mr Morgan said he could lone speech to what helium knew astir his ain involvement, adding: "I've ne'er hacked a phone, I wouldn't adjacent cognize how."

Mr Morgan besides pointed retired helium lone worked for the Daily Mirror and had nary work for the Sunday Mirror, Sunday People oregon different titles.

In 2015, MGN admitted journalists had regularly utilized unlawful techniques to get backstage accusation - and issued a nationalist apology.

The High Court ordered the steadfast to wage retired damages totalling £1.25m to 8 phone-hacking victims, including much than £260,000 to the histrion Sadie Frost.