Prince Harry and singer Elton John are among the six public figures suing the publisher of the Daily Mail.
London:
Britain’s Prince Harry and singer Elton John are among six public figures who have sued the publisher of the Daily Mail for allegedly collecting illegal information on its titles.
Others taking part in the legal action are actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, John’s husband David Furnish and Doreen Lawrence, mother of murder victim Stephen Lawrence, the domestic PA news agency said in a report.
A statement from Hamlins, the law firm that works for the group, said the six men were made aware of “compelling and highly disturbing evidence” by Associated Newspapers Ltd. have been victims of infringement”.
ANL, publisher of The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline, said on Thursday that it “fully and unequivocally” denied the allegations.
Lawrence, whose son was killed in a racially motivated attack in south London in 1993, also filed a claim against Rupert Murdoch-owned newsgroup Newspapers, which has been holding various titles including The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World. was the publisher of.
The details of that claim are not known, but it is also understood to be related to the misuse of personal information.
The statement regarding legal action against ANL, issued by Hamlins, claimed that the alleged illegal acts allowed private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes, and to record private phone conversations. is included.
It also alleged that police were paid for sensitive information “with corrupt links to private investigators”, that medical information was “obtained fraudulently” and that bank accounts and financial information were “transferred through illegal means and manipulation”. through” was accessed.
The Hamlins are representing Harry and Frost, while the other claimants are represented by the law firm Gunnarkook.
In the wake of the UK phone-hacking scandal, several damages claims have been made in newspapers over illegal activity.
This resulted in the closure of Murdoch-owned News of the World.
While most of those claims have now been settled, this is the first claim to be brought against ANL.
The newsgroup Newspapers (NGN) settled claims relating to News of the World, while accepting no liability for claims made in relation to The Sun.
Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) have settled claims related to their titles, including The People and The Sunday Mirror.
Both publishers are currently facing further claims, and have recently made efforts to end the long-running lawsuit.
A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers said it “fully and unequivocally” denies these absurd smears, a pre-meditated and well-planned attempt to pull mail headlines in a phone hacking scam related to articles that span 30 years. There doesn’t seem to be anything else but effort.
“These baseless and highly defamatory claims, without credible evidence, appear to be a fishing campaign by the claimants and their lawyers, some of whom have already pursued cases elsewhere.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)