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 10:40 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Piers Morgan: I’ve never told anybody to hack a phone

Piers Morgan has said he has “never told anybody to hack a phone” amid an ongoing court case over alleged unlawful information gathering at the Daily Mirror.

The Duke of Sussex and other high-profile figures have brought claims of phone hacking against the titles of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in a seven-week trial which began on Wednesday.

Journalist and broadcaster Morgan, who was editor of the Daily Mirror between 1995 and 2004, told BBC Two’s Amol Rajan Interviews: “I think phone hacking is completely wrong and shouldn’t have been happening and it was lazy journalists being lazy.

He added: “There’s no evidence I knew anything about any of this… I never told anybody to hack a phone.”

[15 May 2023 09:30 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Unlawful information gathering authorised at top levels of publisher, court told

Unlawful information gathering was authorised “at the highest levels” at the publisher of The Mirror, the High Court was told.

On the second day of the case on Thursday, barrister David Sherborne said one of the “most seriously troubling features” of their cases was the allegation that those responsible for management and finances of the company “were well aware of what was going on”.

He told the London court: “Even people you would expect to be ensuring honesty… (were) themselves so bound up in this wrongdoing.

“It’s no wonder it was so widespread… it is no wonder it was so successfully covered up by the PLC.”

[15 May 2023 08:36 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Former Sunday Mirror journalist Dan Evans to give evidence today

The fourth day of Prince Harry’s hearing against the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) will resume today in the High Court in London.

Former Sunday Mirror journalist Dan Evans will give evidence in court today.

[15 May 2023 08:17 · 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 08:16 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

‘Simply no evidence’ for many Mirror phone hacking claims, Prince Harry trial told

In case you missed this from Friday:

There is “simply no evidence” for many of the claims of phone hacking by Mirror newspapers, the High Court has heard.

A lawyer for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) further argued that a “very substantial proportion” of the articles involved in the case were at “a breathtaking level of triviality”.

Claims brought by four individuals, including Prince Harry, against MGN titles The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, entered their third day of a trial on Friday.

The claims include phone hacking, securing information through deception – also known as “blagging” – and hiring private investigators for unlawful activities.

[15 May 2023 08:14 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Welcome

... to our liveblog where we will keep you updated with the latest as the phone hacking trial continues in the High Court today.