Prince Harry has won a “monumental victory” over the tabloid press, his lawyer said outside the High Court, as he called for a fresh police investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
David Sherborne suggested one of Murdoch’s key lieutenants, Rebekah Brooks, had overseen a “criminal enterprise” while editor of The Sun.
And he hailed Harry for doggedly pursuing his case against News Group Newspapers (NGN) all the way to a trial, refusing earlier settlements and risking millions of pounds in his pursuit of “truth and accountability”.
Mr Sherborne, addressing reporters outside court, said NGN’s apology represented “vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling, without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them.”
NGN has steadfastly refused for years to accept that there was any unlawful activity at The Sun newspaper. Wrongdoing at the News of the World was accepted after the phone hacking scandal blew up in 2011. But in hundreds of settlements with the rich and famous, The Sun’s integrity has been protected.
In his statement, Mr Sherborne – who has represented Harry throughout the legal war with NGN – said the new admission of wrongdoing at The Sun between 1996 and 2011, including a long period when Mrs Brooks was editor between 2003 and 2009, meant the scandal was not a “relic of a distant past”.
She faced a criminal phone hacking trial in 2014 and was acquitted by a jury, before being re-admitted to Murdoch’s inner circle as chief executive of his British media group.
“In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices”, he said.
“This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling, without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them.
“After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than a billion pounds in payouts and in legal costs (as well as paying-off those in the know) to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law. It has also specifically admitted wrongdoing against Tom Watson, and admitted unlawful acts by The Sun, as well as by the News of the World, against Prince Harry.
-and-News-International-chief-executive-Rebekah-Brook.jpeg?trim=233%2C0%2C36%2C0)
“The truth that has now been exposed is that NGN unlawfully engaged more than 100 private investigators over at least 16 years on more than 35,000 occasions. This happened as much at The Sun as it did at the News of the World, with the knowledge of all the Editors and executives, going to the very top of the company.”
The phone hacking scandal first emerged in 2006 when News of the World Royal editor Clive Goodman was arrested on suspicion of phone hacking three Royal aides.
He was ultimately convicted and jailed alongside private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, and Goodman was publicly branded a “rogue reporter” by his former employers.
Mr Sherborne suggested there was an “extensive conspiracy to cover up what really had been going on and who knew about it.”
He said more than 30 million emails had been deleted on the instructions of senior executives, while back-up tapes had been destroyed as well.
“At her trial, in 2014 Rebekah Brooks, said ‘when I was Editor of The Sun we ran a clean ship’. Now, 10 years later when she is CEO of the company, they now admit, when she was Editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.
“Far from being relics of a distant past, many of those behind these unlawful practices remain firmly entrenched in senior positions today, both within News UK and other media outlets across the world, wielding editorial power and perpetuating the toxic culture in which they continue to thrive. It’s perhaps no surprise that all of their senior executives and editors refused to turn up to court to give evidence. The failure of each of these key individuals to come and answer questions under oath spoke volumes in itself, but their collective silence is deafening.”
The trial had been expected to look at the activities of Will Lewis, who is now in charge of the Washington Post. He was put in charge of handling the fall out to the News of the World hacking scandal.
Mr Sherborne added: “Today’s result has been achieved only through the sheer resilience of Prince Harry and Lord Watson, whose willingness to take NGN to trial has led directly to this historic admission of unlawfulness at The Sun.
“It has only been by taking NGN - not just to the steps of court but inside the court room itself - that these Claimants have finally managed to extract this historic admission of guilt.
“As a direct result of him taking a stand, Prince Harry and his immediate family have also had to repeatedly withstand aggressive and vengeful coverage since starting his claim over five years ago. This has created serious concerns for the security of him and his family.
“The rule of law must now run its full course. Prince Harry and Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and Parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover ups along the way. Its clear now this has occurred throughout this process, including through sworn evidence in inquiries and court hearings, and in testimony to Parliament, until today’s final collapse of NGN’s defence.
“Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.”
Lord Watson was deputy leader of the Labour party and a government minister when he was unlawfully targeted by the News of the World and its agents.
In his own statement outside court, Lord Watson joined the calls for a police investigation.
“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators. I was wrong, they have Prince Harry”, he said.
“His bravery and astonishing courage … have brought accountability to a part of the media that thought it was untouchable.
“I am sure I speak on behalf of the thousands of victims when I say we are grateful to him for his unwavering support and his determination under extraordinary pressure.”
He continued: “This saga has placed an unforgivable strain on the people in my life”, and he added: “Our system remains stacked against victims in favour of the powerful.”
Concluding his statement, Lord Watson said: “To Sir Mark Rowley – when you receive our dossier exposing wrongdoing, will the Metropolitan Police act?
“To the Prime Minister – I know you care deeply about fairness in the law, but are we really willing to continue as a country where some executives are above the law and out of the reach of the police?”
NGN issued its own statement after the conclusion of legal proceedings, and countered some of the claims made by Mr Sherborne outside court.
“It has long been a matter of record that the Duke of Sussex’s phone was hacked by the News of the World. Two people served criminal sentences for this in 2006 and an apology was given. Today a full and unequivocal apology is given to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World. Phone hacking at the News of the World was not due to be a part of this trial but it is a part of this settlement.
“In the 1990’s and early 2000’s there was widespread use by the broadcast and news media of private investigators. In most cases, their use was for public interest journalism and to obtain information necessary for the purposes of journalism.
“Today, our apology to the Duke of Sussex includes an apology for incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun, not by journalists, during the period 1996-2011.
“There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now. There was no voicemail interception on The Sun.
“It must also be stressed that allegations that were being made publicly pre trial (and indeed post settlement) that News International destroyed evidence in 2010/11 would have been the subject of significant challenge at trial. These allegations were and continue to be strongly denied. Extensive evidence would have been called in trial to rebut these allegations from senior staff from technology and legal.
“After we served our skeleton arguments and evidence for trial including witness statements, the Duke has not sought to pursue these allegations further despite his stated intent and no admission or apology has been made in relation to this. This is significant. This matter was also investigated fully by the police and CPS between 2012-2015, at the conclusion of which it was found that there was no case to answer.
“Lord Watson’s phone was not hacked in 2009-11 and had this gone to trial, NGN would have called evidence from telecoms experts to demonstrate that hacking after 2007 was nigh on impossible due to security upgrades undertaken by telecoms companies. This evidence was also provided to the Leveson Inquiry. No admission has been made on this today.
“After more than a decade of litigation, and 14 years since the News of the World closed down, today’s settlement draws a line under the past and brings an end to this litigation. Indeed the Judge made it clear in remarks in court at the end of the hearing that these cases are likely to be the last liable to go to trial. Any cases now brought, years after the events, will be liable to be struck out.
“The Sun today can face the future and continue its proud record of award-winning public interest journalism, investigations and campaigning on behalf of its readers.”
