Prince Harry, Piers Morgan and hacking: What did the bosses know?

The seven-week proceedings into allegations of telephone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers journalists has travel to an end. Is the grounds against the tabloid stacking up?

At times during the hacking tribunal lawsuit it seemed arsenic though we had travelled backmost successful time, to the days earlier societal media, erstwhile radical got their quality from pages of ink, printed connected existent paper.

Back to the 1990s and 2000s, erstwhile stories astir Prince Harry - hardly retired of schoolhouse and falling for his archetypal girlfriends - could capable newspapers time aft day.

The tabloids were besides fascinated by soap stars. Two Coronation Street actors were claimants successful this trial. Michael Turner played mechanic Kevin, and Nikki Sanderson, hairdresser Candice.

The 4th claimant was Fiona Wightman, dragged into the red-tops by her matrimony to Paul Whitehouse, whose TV drama sketches connected The Fast Show had catapulted him to fame successful the 90s.

What became wide during the proceedings was Mirror journalists didn't conscionable marque up their stories arsenic galore critics of the tabloids mightiness believe. They pursued close reporting of personage secrets arsenic vigorously arsenic different writer mightiness analyse a corrupt politician.

But their astir precious commodity was delicate idiosyncratic information, immoderate of it obtained illicitly from telephone hacking. This is nary longer disputed by the newspapers, due to the fact that this proceedings was not the first.

The High Court judge, Mr Justice Mann, ruled that for 7 years, from 1999, determination had been "widespread, institutionalised and long-standing" telephone hacking astatine the newspapers and editors knew - successful particular, the exertion of the Sunday Mirror, Tina Weaver. The steadfast apologised.

In the latest trial, which concluded connected Friday, the claimants were trying to grow the ineligible enactment to much imaginable victims, and beryllium the ungraded reached the apical of Mirror Group - to its committee and its lawyers. If Mr Justice Fancourt finds they knew - and did thing - the institution could beryllium deed with monolithic bills for compensation.

During this trial, the claimants attempted to marque a caller lawsuit against Piers Morgan, the tv presenter who was Mirror exertion betwixt 1995 and 2004, who had emerged mostly unscathed from the 2015 trial.

They brought unneurotic a bid of incidents, which they said suggested helium knew rather a batch astir telephone hacking and blagging - the reckless obtaining of idiosyncratic accusation specified arsenic addresses, telephone bills oregon slope statements - successful the anticipation of creating an unbreakable thread of evidence.

There was the luncheon wherever Mr Morgan urged a telephone institution enforcement to archer his customers they should alteration the PIN numbers connected their mobiles, due to the fact that journalists could perceive to their voicemail messages.

There was the erstwhile intern who told the tribunal helium overheard a writer reassuring Mr Morgan that a communicative astir the vocalist Kylie Minogue was close due to the fact that it had travel from her voicemails.

A erstwhile Guardian writer who said successful a connection that Mr Morgan had explained to him astir radical didn't alteration the default entree codification for their voicemails, truthful they were casual to guess.

And the cause for TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, who couldn't enactment retired wherefore Mr Morgan seemed to cognize truthful overmuch astir her client.

But neither broadside called Mr Morgan to the witnesser container to support himself. In civilian trials, witnesses lone thin to beryllium called if they tin assistance 1 broadside oregon the other. The Mirror Group argued Mr Morgan's quality would person been an "unnecessary distraction" from the issues the justice has to decide.

Remember, a cardinal question was what executives knew. Piers Morgan was not connected the committee of Mirror Group Newspapers, the institution said, and lone attended 2 meetings implicit 9 years.

But towards the extremity of the hearings, the justice enactment Mr Morgan astatine the apical of a database of 29 journalists who hadn't travel to tribunal and possibly "could and should" person fixed evidence.

After all, Mr Justice Fancourt pointed out, the erstwhile exertion had been blessed to speech astir telephone hacking extracurricular court.

Mr Morgan precocious told the BBC: "I ne'er hacked a phone. I wouldn't adjacent cognize how. I ne'er told anybody to hack a phone."

He besides insisted helium didn't cognize telephone hacking was going on, but besides that helium couldn't beryllium definite stories hadn't been published which utilized unlawful methods.

But volition the justice "draw an inference" that Mr Morgan not giving grounds suggests helium was involved? He could determine helium doesn't person to marque immoderate ruling astatine each astir the erstwhile editor.

So what other did we learn? The proceedings lifted the lid connected a web of backstage investigators, oregon PIs, who specialised successful feeding idiosyncratic accusation to the tabloids.

For the archetypal time, a fistful appeared successful court. Ageing veterans of the accusation trade, sometimes scoffing astatine the questions they faced, sometimes confused by them.

Between 1996 and 2011 the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People spent astatine slightest £9m successful payments to PIs. We heard that reporters connected the Mirror papers regularly subcontracted the process of obtaining accusation to these PIs.

A newsman mightiness get 1 to find an code and telephone fig from recognition notation agencies, oregon from the Electoral Roll, perchance breaching information extortion laws.

It was claimed journalists mightiness usage these details to hack a celebrity's telephone themselves, oregon walk them onto different specializer investigator, who would successful crook cognize the close "blagger" capable to get much information.

There were radical who would airs arsenic slope customers to get fiscal records, oregon NHS unit to get someone's aesculapian status. Some were experts astatine digging done recognition records, others astatine digging done rubbish. Literally, the contents of personage bins.

The accusation would past beryllium passed backmost up the chain, and presented to the reporter. The claimants argued this would let the writer to accidental it had been provided by "sources", and to contradict knowing it had perchance been obtained unlawfully.

Quotes lifted from telephone hacking would beryllium written up arsenic the words of anonymous "insiders" to disguise their source, the tribunal heard.

Mirror Group's barrister, Andrew Green KC, accepted determination were immoderate investigators who broke the instrumentality - "rotters" arsenic helium called them respective times. But astir of the clip they were utilizing morganatic databases, helium said.

The 3 alleged victims of "unlawful accusation gathering" were chosen arsenic trial cases. Prince Harry picked himself arsenic the 4th by simply refusing to settee with the Mirror.

Their clip successful the witnesser container was chiefly spent defending their cases against Mr Green. He tried to get them to judge that the stories the newspapers published astir them indispensable person travel from publically disposable sources, from friends, "insiders", different newspapers oregon adjacent interviews they had willingly given.

Prince Harry's attack successful the witnesser container was to suppress his choler and suggest it was for the journalists to explicate however they got their stories astir him.

At the time, helium didn't work each 33 articles successful his lawsuit but said "every azygous nonfiction has caused maine distress" - saying they tainted his narration with friends helium suspected mightiness beryllium leaking information.

The stories astir him were truthful close helium was "incredibly suspicious" they had been sourced illegitimately, particularly by telephone hacking. He was incapable to accidental which voicemails had been accessed. It was each a precise agelong clip ago.

The affectional harm done by tabloid reporting became wide erstwhile Fiona Wightman entered the witnesser box.

In 2000, her divided from comedian Paul Whitehouse and her crab diagnosis were some of involvement to the Mirror newspapers, which, it is alleged, tried to usage a "blagger" to cheque her aesculapian condition.

Sometimes successful tears, she told the court: "I've had to sermon immoderate of the astir idiosyncratic things I person had to spell through. The astir hard times successful my life."

Being progressive successful the lawsuit meant, she said, that "ironically it tin present beryllium reported. At the clip I chose not to sermon immoderate of it."

Don't expect a speedy determination astir these cases. It whitethorn beryllium months earlier Mr Justice Fancourt gives a judgement and much than 100 imaginable claimants are waiting connected his words.

It is present much than a decennary since well-known radical began to instrumentality connected the newspapers they accidental person tormented their lives. Hundreds of victims person received damages successful ineligible settlements and lone MGN has been prepared to fto the conflict widen to a nationalist trial.

But the lawsuit of Sussex v MGN is not going to beryllium the past trial. Next year, histrion Hugh Grant volition instrumentality connected the steadfast of the Sun newspaper. Prince Harry whitethorn articulation him. Round 2 for the Duke.

And an adjacent much assertive ineligible conflict is connected the horizon.

Associated Newspapers, whose apical selling rubric is the Daily Mail, is gearing up to combat disconnected caller allegations made by Elton John, Doreen Lawrence - parent of murdered Stephen - and, of course, Prince Harry. They see the usage of phone-tapping and bugs.

The steadfast has denied immoderate engagement successful what person go known arsenic "the acheronian arts".