Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has again insisted he has "never hacked a phone or told anyone else to hack a phone".
It comes after a High Court judge accepted evidence that Mr Morgan was aware of hacking regarding at least one article while working at the Daily Mirror, a claim which relied upon the evidence of Omid Scobie, who has gone on to become a royal author and journalist.
Mr Morgan issued an angry response to the verdict which found that Mirror Group Newspapers did use unlawful news gathering methods to dig into Prince Harry's private life. Harry was awarded roughly £140,000 in damages after the judge found in his favour regarding 15 of 33 'example' articles.
Mr Morgan insisted he had “zero knowledge” of the single article, which regarded Kylie Minogue, published in his time as editor of the Daily Mirror which may have involved illegal information gathering.
Speaking outside his London home, he said: “I had then and still have zero knowledge of how that particular story was gathered.
“I also want to reiterate, as I’ve consistently said for many years now, I’ve never hacked a phone or told anyone else to and nobody has provided any actual evidence to prove that I did.”
In TV interviews from the early 2000s Mr Morgan showed a knowledge of how celebrity's had their voicemails hacked.
Mr Morgan said those giving evidence in the Duke of Sussex’s High Court case were "old foes of mine with an axe to grind", singling out author Mr Scobie and journalist Alastair Campbell.
He told reporters: “I wasn’t called as a witness – it’s important for people to know this – by either side in the case, nor was I asked to provide any statement. I would have very happily agreed to do either or both of those things had I been asked.
“Nor did I have a single conversation with any of the Mirror Group lawyers throughout the entire legal process.
“So I wasn’t able to respond to the many false allegations that were spewed about me in court by old foes of mine with an axe to grind, most of which, inexplicably, were not even challenged in my absence by the Mirror Group counsel.
“But I know the judge appears to have believed the evidence of Omid Scobie, who lied about me in his new book and he lied about me in court, and the whole world now knows him to be a deluded fantasist.
"And he believed the evidence of Alastair Campbell, another proven liar who spun this country into an illegal war.”
In a statement after the verdict Prince Harry called for a fresh investigation into phone hacking at tabloid newspapers and said the judgement had been a "good day for truth".
Concluding his statement, Mr Morgan said: “As for him (Harry) saying this is a good day for truth, the duke has been repeatedly exposed in recent years as someone who wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him around his California tan face.
“He demands accountability for the press, but refuses to accept any for himself for smearing the royal family, his own family, as a bunch of callous racists without producing a shred of proof to support those disgraceful claims.
“He also says he’s on a mission to reform the media, but it’s become clear his real mission, along with his wife, is to destroy the British monarchy, and I will continue to do whatever I can to stop them.”
