Prince Harry takes swipe at Piers Morgan as he’s awarded ‘substantial’ damages in Mirror telephone hacking case | EUROtoday

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Prince Harry has taken a swipe at Piers Morgan as he has been awarded “substantial” damages in his telephone hacking case towards the writer of the Daily Mirror.

The Duke of Sussex criticised Piers Morgan’s “continued attacks” towards him after he reached a settlement with Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) on Friday, which incorporates an interim cost in the direction of the prices of £400,000.

In a press release learn exterior the High Court by his barrister David Sherborne, Harry, 39, stated: “In light of this, we call again for the authorities to uphold the rule of law and to prove that no one is above it. That includes Mr Morgan, who as editor knew perfectly well what was going on, as the judge held.”

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He added: “His contempt for the court’s ruling and his continued attacks ever since demonstrate why it was so important to obtain a clear and detailed judgment.”

A decide dominated on the similar court docket in December that Mr Morgan knew about and was concerned in telephone hacking when he was editor of the Daily Mirror because the duke received damages of £140,600 towards MGN.

Speaking to reporters exterior his west London dwelling, Mr Morgan responded to the ruling: “I want to reiterate, as I’ve consistently said for many years now – I’ve never hacked a phone or told anybody else to hack a phone. And nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that I did.”

He insisted he had “zero knowledge” of the one article printed in his time as editor of the Daily Mirror that will have concerned unlawful data gathering, earlier than launching a scathing assault on Harry. Mr Morgan branded the duke “ruthless, greedy and hypocritical”, as he accused him of making an attempt “to destroy the British monarchy”.

In his Friday assertion, Harry stated his case has uncovered the “shockingly dishonest way” the Daily Mirror acted “for so many years”, as he known as the judgment “extremely damaging”.

The duke vowed that his “mission continues”, as he believes within the “positive change it will bring for all of us”, amid ongoing authorized battles towards the UK tabloid media.

The settlement comes after a trial final June, wherein the duke grew to become the primary royal to step contained in the witness field, with the decide discovering that 15 out of 33 articles into consideration had been the product of illegal data gathering.

They included articles about his relationship with former girlfriend Chelsy Davy, a dialogue together with his brother about assembly with Princess Diana’s former butler, and allegations that he had smoked hashish.

An additional 115 articles have been in his declare, which can have been the topic of an extra trial. However, Mr Sherborne confirmed on Friday {that a} settlement had been reached, saying MGN can pay Harry “a substantial additional sum by way of damages” in addition to his authorized prices.

The court docket had beforehand discovered that telephone hacking grew to become “widespread and habitual” at MGN titles within the late Nineties and was practised “even to some extent” through the Leveson Inquiry into press requirements in 2011.

In the newest ruling, Mr Justice Fancourt stated the writer ought to pay so-called “generic” authorized prices to the greater than 100 folks presently concerned within the authorized motion.

The decide stated: “On the generic issues, there can be little doubt that the claimants were successful. In this unusual case, justice is only done by awarding the claimants their costs of the generic issues.”

In December, the 39-year-old duke stated his partially profitable case towards MGN was “a great day for truth, as well as accountability” and known as on the police to analyze the writer of the Daily and Sunday Mirror and The People.

The newest improvement in Harry’s ongoing authorized battle towards the tabloid media comes simply days after his flying go to to the UK to reunite together with his father, who introduced his most cancers analysis on Monday.

However, after travelling from the US to London inside 24 hours of the information, the duke reportedly met with the King at Clarence House for lower than an hour on Tuesday. He returned to his dwelling in California the next day with out having seen his estranged brother Prince William.

The siblings have endured a well-publicised fractured relationship in recent times, following Harry and his spouse Meghan Markle’s determination to step again as senior royals in January 2020 and go away for the US. In the wake of the transfer, a number of grievances have been then shared by the couple as to their alleged remedy by the hands of the royal household.

At a listening to final month, the High Court in London heard that the group of people that sued the Mirror writer was searching for cost of £1,976,660 from MGN in the direction of the authorized prices of bringing “generic” allegations to court docket.

Last month, Harry threatened to pursue a second trial concerning the additional 115 articles that type a part of his declare, after solely a pattern of 33 have been chosen for the trial final yr.

Roger Mallalieu KC, for MGN, informed the court docket the writer made affords to settle with Harry however the phrases have been confidential.

The barrister stated in written submissions that the group suing the writer had solely seen “partial success on the trial issues” and those that misplaced their claims ought to pay their “respective share” of the so-called “generic” prices.

Harry’s case was heard alongside comparable claims introduced by actor Michael Turner, who is understood professionally as Michael Le Vell and is most well-known for enjoying Kevin Webster in Coronation Street, actress Nikki Sanderson and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comic Paul Whitehouse.

Claims introduced by Ms Sanderson and Ms Wightman have been dismissed by Mr Justice Fancourt as a result of they have been made too late, regardless of the decide discovering that a few of their complaints have been proved.

An MGN spokesperson stated: “We welcomed December’s judgment that gave the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago. Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid compensation.”

They added: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which gives our business further clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago and for which we have apologised.”