Harry loses High Court privacy case against Daily Mail publisherpublished at 16:56 BST
16:56 BST
Cachella Smith
Live editor
Image source, Reuters
A High Court judge has dismissed claims brought by Prince
Harry and six others that the Daily Mail publisher used information that had
been gathered unlawfully within a number of articles published years ago.
In his judgment today, Mr Justice Nicklin underlined that
suspicion alone was not proof – and found the claimants had failed to bring
enough evidence to support their allegations.
Nicklin unpicked the arguments for a number of articles
brought in as evidence – they included a piece published in 2010 in which Elton
John and his husband David Furnish claimed details about their newborn son had
been obtained by deception, a draft article about Sadie Frost’s ectopic
pregnancy, and articles on Prince Harry’s previous relationships.
The judge also dismissed the “Leveson Lies” (as it
was termed in pleadings and submissions) – an allegation that former Daily Mail
editor Paul Dacre and two other senior Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL)
witnesses gave false evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.
He called those allegations “extremely serious”
and said the claimants “are open to criticism” for the way in which
they were pursued, he found.
Associated Newspapers Limited, which had always strongly
denied all the claims, has called it an “overwhelming victory”.
One claimant, former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes, says the judgment was “very disappointing” – adding he will take time to consider it.
Prince Harry, who is currently in London, and the other
claimants are yet to comment publicly.
We are bringing our live coverage to a close now, but you can read more in our news story.