Prince Harry trial – latest: Piers Morgan was told a story came from voicemails, says Omid Scobie

Journalist Omid Scobie gave evidence on the fourth day of Prince Harry’s hearing

Piers Morgan says he refuses to take ‘lectures on privacy’ from Prince Harry

Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan was told a story about Kylie Minogue and her boyfriend came from voicemails, the High Court has heard.

Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie gave evidence on the fourth day of Prince Harry’s hearing against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in the High Court in London.

In spring 2002, Mr Scobie did work experience at the Daily Mirror and allegedly overheard then-editor Mr Morgan being told that information relating to Kylie Minogue and her boyfriend had come from voicemails.

In a written submission, he said: “Mr Morgan was asking how confident they were in the reporting and was told that the information had come from voicemails.

“I recall being surprised to hear this at the time, which is why it stuck in my mind.”

MGN - publisher of The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People - is accused of unlawful information-gathering including voicemail interception, securing information through deception and hiring private investigators for unlawful activities.

The publisher is contesting the cases and has said there is “no evidence, or no sufficient evidence, of voicemail interception in any of these four claims”.

Key Points

• Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie set to give evidence in hacking trial
• ‘Simply no evidence’ for many Mirror phone hacking claims, Prince Harry trial told
• What Piers Morgan has said about phone hacking accusations
• Unlawful information gathering authorised at top levels of publisher, court told

[15 May 2023 19:06 · Natalie Crockett]

That concludes our live coverage of this story today. You can read the latest here.

[15 May 2023 18:15 · Joe Middleton]

ICYMI: Harry vs Piers is the classic tale of the prince vs the troll

You don’t need to have suffered the burdens of fame to know that it might not be a moral outrage to object to illegal and frightening intrusions into your private life – even if you were planning to put it all on Instagram anyway, writes Tom Peck.

[15 May 2023 17:45 · Joe Middleton]

‘I’ve not been called to give evidence’: What Piers Morgan has said about phone hacking accusations

Piers Morgan has strenuously denied knowing “anything about” phone hacking at the Mirror and said he “couldn’t give a monkey’s cuss” about the High Court case brought by Prince Harry.

The Duke of Sussex and other celebrities including Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Le Vell have accused Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking and the use of private investigators.

[15 May 2023 17:13 · Joe Middleton]

Ex-Sunday Mirror reporter alleges ‘endemic criminality’ at News of the World and MGN

Ex-Sunday Mirror reporter Dan Evans - who was described as the paper’s former “in-house hacker” - also entered the witness box on Monday.

Mr Evans - who later joined the now-defunct News of the World, subsequently admitted phone hacking and was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence - alleged there was “endemic criminality” at both the News of the World and MGN.

He alleged that “many people” at MGN titles were involved “in what I today honestly believe to be one of the longest and most developed corporate/criminal conspiracies in British history”.

Mr Evans later alleged that journalists at the Sunday Mirror would “stand up” stories from legitimate stories “by looking to hack the phones of the individuals involved, or their friends, so that we could verify the truth of the information given to us by the source”.

[15 May 2023 16:44 · Joe Middleton]

Piers Morgan was told Kylie Minogue story came from voicemails, High Court hears

Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan was told a story about Kylie Minogue and her boyfriend came from voicemails, the High Court has heard.

Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie gave evidence on the fourth day of Prince Harry’s hearing against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in the High Court in London.

In spring 2002, Mr Scobie did work experience at the Daily Mirror and allegedly overheard then-editor Piers Morgan being told that information relating to Kylie Minogue and her boyfriend had come from voicemails.

The royal commentator continued in his written evidence: “I recall that during one of those days in the office - which housed the 3AM team and some ‘showbiz’ journalists in the same section - the editor of the newspaper, Piers Morgan, came over to talk with someone, I do not recall who, about a story in the works on Kylie Minogue and her, on-off, at the time, boyfriend James Gooding.

“Mr Morgan was asking how confident they were in the reporting and was told that the information had come from voicemails.

“I recall being surprised to hear this at the time, which is why it stuck in my mind.”

[15 May 2023 15:50 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Mirror publisher says sorry to Prince Harry in phone-hacking trial

The publisher of the Daily Mirror has apologised “unreservedly” to Prince Harry for an instance of unlawful information-gathering, at the start of a trial into alleged phone-hacking.

In a written submission, it was alleged that Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) had spent millions on private investigators to keep track of celebrities, and that the company had targeted Harry’s parents, the then Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Duke of Sussex and a number of high-profile celebrities, including the actor Ricky Tomlinson and the estate of the late singer George Michael, are bringing claims against MGN.

The court was told that the “systemic” use of private investigators by journalists to obtain private information unlawfully was authorised by senior editors, including Piers Morgan, at the group’s titles.

[15 May 2023 15:01 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

‘I’ve not been called to give evidence’: What Piers Morgan has said about phone hacking accusations

Piers Morgan has strenuously denied knowing “anything about” phone hacking at the Mirror and said he “couldn’t give a monkey’s cuss” about the High Court case brought by Prince Harry.

The Duke of Sussex and other celebrities including Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Le Vell have accused Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking and the use of private investigators.

On the second day of the seven-week trial, which began on Wednesday, the duke’s lawyer David Sherborne told the court that Mr Morgan “lies right at the heart” of the allegations, and insisted it was “inconceivable” that he and several other MGN editors had been unaware of the alleged wrongdoing.

[15 May 2023 13:39 · Joe Middleton]

Day Four of trial: Finding Freedom author Omid Scobie set to give evidence

Omid Scobie, a journalist best known for co-authoring Finding Freedom, a biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, is set to appear as a witness.

[15 May 2023 12:50 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Prince Harry blames Mirror group for Chelsy Davy breakup

Prince Harry has blamed the allegedly unlawful information gathering activities carried out at the Mirror group for his break-up with Chelsy Davy, the High Court heard.

The duke is among several high-profile individuals bringing damage claims against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) titles, which began on Wednesday (10 May) and is expected to last seven weeks.

MGN, publisher of titles including The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, is contesting the claims —arguing that some have been brought too late.

[15 May 2023 11:48 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

A timeline of Prince Harry’s legal battles – from phone hacking to the Home Office

Here we look at the legal cases the duke has been involved in over the last few years: