Allegations of unlawful snooping by Daily Mail journalists into a group of high profile people including Prince Harry and Elton John must be heard at a full trial, a London judge ruled.
The tabloid newspaper’s publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd. failed to get the case struck out after a judge ruled on Friday that the historic allegations of unlawful information gathering by journalists could only be settled at trial and that the publisher failed to deliver a “knockout blow.” Lawyers for the paper argued the allegations were time-barred.
The legal battle with the tabloid harks back to over a decade ago and the scandal involving Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. tabloid News of the World, whose journalists hacked into the mobile phones and voicemails of celebrities, law makers and royals. The subsequent disputes led to a number of arrests and convictions, plus sweeping recommendations for British media reform.
Until now the focus of civil suits has been mainly on News Corp. and Mirror Group Newspapers.
Lawyers for the celebrities allege that from 1993 to as recently as 2018, people working for the Daily Mail intercepted voicemail messages, listened into live calls, got phone bills and medical records, and used private investigators on their behalf. Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost and Doreen Lawrence are also claimants in the suit.
“The lurid claims made by Prince Harry and others of phone hacking, land line tapping, burglary and sticky-window microphones are simply preposterous and we look forward to establishing this in court in due course,” an Associated Newspapers spokesperson said in a statement.
Read more: Prince Harry Clashes With Daily Mail in UK Snooping Lawsuit
(Updates with a comment from Associated Newspapers in the final paragraph)
