A British newspaper editor has agreed to pay Prince Harry a “substantial” sum in costs and damages for invading his privacy with wiretapping and other illegal spying, Harry’s lawyer said Friday.
Lawyer David Sherborne said Mirror Group Newspapers had agreed to pay all of Harry’s legal costs, plus damages, and would make an interim payment of 400,000 pounds ($505,000) within 14 days. The final tab will be evaluated later.
Harry was awarded £140,000 ($177,000) in damages in December after a judge found that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers in the late 1990s, continuing for more for a decade and newspaper executives covered it. above. Judge Timothy Fancourt determined that Harry’s phone was hacked “to a modest extent.”
Mirror Group said in a statement that it was “pleased to have reached this agreement, which gives our business greater clarity moving forward regarding events that took place many years ago and for which we have apologised.”
Harry’s case against the editor of the Daily Mirror and two other tabloids is one of several he has launched in a campaign against the British media, which he blames for ruining his life and harassing both his late mother, Princess Diana, and to his wife Meghan.
“Our mission continues,” Harry said in a statement read outside court by his lawyer.
In December, the High Court ruled that Harry had been a victim of illegal information gathering, including phone hacking, by journalists associated with several tabloids. REUTERS
In June, he became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court in more than a century during the trial of his case against the Mirror.
Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, was not present in court for Friday’s ruling. He traveled to London from his home in California earlier this week to visit his father, King Charles III, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Harry flew back to the United States about 24 hours later.
Harry still has ongoing cases against the editors of The Sun and Daily Mail over allegations of illegal spying. He recently dropped a libel case against the Mail’s editor after an unfavorable pre-trial ruling.
Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, waves as he leaves the Rolls Building at the High Court in London, Britain, June 7, 2023. REUTERS
At a High Court hearing on Friday, the judge ordered Mirror Group to pay some of the legal costs of three other claimants whose cases were heard alongside Harry’s.
Fancourt said that “all plaintiffs have been vindicated” by the court’s findings about the Mirror Group’s misconduct, and that legal costs had been increased by the publisher’s “attempts to conceal the truth.”
Harry was one of approximately 100 plaintiffs, including actors, sports stars, celebrities and high-profile individuals, who have sued MGN in the past. REUTERS
He ordered the publisher to pay the “common costs” of a general case that seeks to demonstrate irregularities on the part of the company. This is separate from the legal costs of preparing and filing individual-specific claims.
The judge said the other three plaintiffs must pay part of the Mirror Group’s costs in their individual cases because they made exaggerated claims or did not accept reasonable offers to settle.
The judge ruled in December that the four plaintiffs’ privacy had been violated, but dismissed cases brought by actress Nikki Sanderson and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse, because they were filed too late. A claim by actor Michael Turner was partially successful.
Phone hacking by British newspapers dates back more than two decades, when journalists eager for scoops regularly called the numbers of royals, celebrities, politicians and sports stars and, when asked to leave a message, They entered predetermined access codes to eavesdrop on voice messages.
The practice erupted into a full-blown scandal in 2011, when it was revealed that Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World had intercepted messages from a murdered girl, relatives of dead British soldiers and bombing victims. Murdoch closed the paper and a former News of the World editor was jailed.
It was later discovered that the newspapers had used other intrusive means, such as telephone tapping, home tapping, and “blading” details of medical records, that is, obtaining information by deception.
Mirror Group Newspapers said it has paid out more than 100 million pounds ($128 million) in other phone hacking claims over the years, but denied any wrongdoing in Harry’s case. He said he used legitimate reporting methods to obtain information about the prince.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn