Extensive Phone Hacking by MGN

[Roussette]

So... Harry has won his case.

As lawyers are saying now... this is massive. 15 out of 33 accusations of hacking by Harry were upheld as a result of phone hacking and other illegal practices.
Hacking and blagging were even taking place during the Leveson enquiry.

He has won damages of £140,000 plus. And before this thread descends into Harry hate, please think of all the other claimants who have also had their claims upheld and damages awarded to them. They went through hell, medical records hacked and reported on, trackers on cars, phones hacked...

It's not about the money, it's about 'accountability of power'.

But it was recognised before and it still led us here.

That means that this practice still needs to be fought against, publicity brought to it, court cases ongoing... anything to call these criminals to account for their illegal practices.

I agree

i was just answering the pp because this isn't new territory and I applaud those who have the stamina to keep campaigning.

So just bear in mind that Paul Vickers who was one of the two MGN directors who knew about phone hacking before 2011, he was group legal director, was also the Chairman of the Regulatory funding body which funds IPSO. After he resigned that role he went on to be legal director at The Telegraph and then Independent News & Media.

Piers Morgan is off on a rant again about Harry. Deflecting and seemingly failing to mention the others whose phones were hacked. Hes delusional and obsessed. Said he doesn’t know where the information came from in Harry’s hacking story. Surely as an editor you need to satisfy yourself that what you are publishing is the truth?

Piers Morgan is making an absolute spectacle of himself. I hope it ruins his Christmas, horrible man.

Proven LIAR Piers Morgan is coming out swinging, hoping that by wheeling out a trite and lame counter-attack that Prince Harry is "trying to destroy the monarchy" he'll be able to deflect from the fact that he has been proven by the High Court to be a BARE-FACED LIAR.

Doubling-down on lies when you have court evidence against you is a stupid strategy. And a sign of desperation from Piers, who is hoping he is untouchable and that his media friends will rally around him.

But he is clearly increasingly cornered, with possible police investigations and litigation for PERJURY likely to be part of his future in the coming months.

So he would love to attack the judge, but thinks he can instead get by with his usual attacks on Harry.

It's NOT going to work.

When in a hole, stop digging, Piers Morgan!

Yes I would agree with most of those very good points. It is the prevailing lack of integrity and avariciousness within the press itself that results in everyone using it to protect themselves, something which would not be as necessary if we had better laws governing press intrusion, or if the laws we already have were upheld more often.

I think governments, far more than royalty, need to be held far more accountable as to how far they are in the “ pay “ of the press, and how far this situation is compromising democracy itself.

Also agree about the importance of the freedom of the press but as Mmeercat23’s said, this freedom was granted to hold truth to power, not to form cosy, private, agreements over the way “facts” are presented to Joe Public.

I remember when the phone hacking came out that shut down the News of The World.

People I know who worked in newspapers said the editor knows where every cent is spent as well as what news sources are used.

@TallerSally

This really needs to be listened to, it's only 26 seconds. Piers Morgan is a proven liar. It's there for all to see. How he can listen to someone else's voicemail message without it having been hacked, god alone knows. He's come out swinging but it's not working

https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1735682019105906870

The Vardy Defence 'judge didnt understand' is wearing a bit thin. Piers M, you'd be better off with the Bozo/Rishi manoeuvre 'Dunno, don't remember, can't recall that'. Congratulations @Roussette, blocked by Morgan? Something to be proud of. These 'mover and shaker powerful men' are all remarkably thin-skinned.

Morgan keeps repeating ‘I’ve never hacked a phone’ and ‘I’ve never told anyone to hack a phone’. That’s probably true.

But it’s not what we’re alleging mate. We’re asking if you knew it went on.

Yes, and what I linked shows he admitted listening to someone's voicemail. Only when pushed to answer. The only way he could do that was for it to be hacked.

I think it was Kylie Minogue's at the time.

hes so pathetic, does he think lawyers and judges are going to let him get away with trying to reframe questions and phrases, 'message' instead of 'voicemail message'... you alsolutely listened to it and it clearly wasn't for you or on your phone and she definitely never said to you, Piers, that you could listen to her voicemail messages! Of course you listened to hacked messages! WTF would Heather Mills allow you all to listen to them? He is so annoying!

Heather Mills.

I watched an interview between Amol Rajan and Piers Morgan, I can't remember even. Morgan denied phone hacking and said to Rajan ' Could you honestly say you know everything that went on at The Independent when you were editor?' and Rajan said ' I absolutely categorically know that no phone hacking was done on my watch'. Of course Morgan knew. It was his job to know.

I see others are making comment on the fact William got £1 million and Harry 'only got' £140,000. Firstly, different media organisations, this is MGN. William settled out of court, that will cost them more, and it was NGN. Harry doesn't want this kept away from the public, so was never looking to settle.

Indeed.

In Harry's statement today:

“I am happy to have won the case, especially given that this trial only looked at a quarter of my entire claim. Even on just that, it is clear Mirror Group’s persistent attempts to suggest that my claim was, to quote their counsel, ‘fantastical’ and was in the ‘realms of total speculation’ and that there was ‘simply no evidence at all’ to suggest I was hacked – ‘zilch, zero, nil, nada, niente, absolutely nothing’ – were total nonsense and were used maliciously to attack my character and credibility.
“However, as Mirror Group intended, these hollow soundbites were blasted across front pages and across online platforms, and into the next day’s morning television shows. The court has in fact confirmed that all four claimants were subjected to voicemail interception and unlawful information gathering. But no one would have believed that was the case given how this trial has been covered in the UK.

People are being manipulated into hating Harry and Meghan for standing up to the British tabloid/Murdoch press and the Royal family's unholy alliance with them. On a GALACTIC scale.

Hats off to Harry for ploughing on, despite the insults bullying and character assassinations that he and Meghan endure from hundreds of 'articles' on a DAILY basis.

I will never forget the account of the day and a half (or so) that Harry spent giving evidence in the witness box this year, with supposedly 'rottweiler' lawyers failing to land a single fatal blow. Meanwhile, people on here and elsewhere were feeling entitled to call him "stupid" and "brainless" etc. As if contributing towards putting together a WINNING case against the tabloid media behemoths of the UK were some trivial feat.

All those insulting Harry should be THANKING him instead, for holding feet to fire of the whole caboodle of tabloid/Murdoch media LIARS, starting with Piers Morgan.

To go off piste a bit, and make a political point, I think this case is representative of how far we allow greedy commercial imperatives to crowd out basic democratic values in the uk including human rights.

There’s another story in the press today about how the lack of firm regulation in the tech industry has led to two murders of teen boys who encountered malevolent strangers while they were innocently gaming.

Another example is the pollution of our shores and rivers.

The right wing press characterised the EU as “red tape central” and led the charge for Brexit because it was in their interests to do so, but I think this case and others highlights how much how we need a strong regulatory framework. And a strong judiciary to uphold it (and yes the judiciary has been under-resourced too) as we are all much more exposed to sharp practice post Brexit now we have lost the protection of EU regs.

We need firm legislation not to hamper trade but to ensure a balance of power and that the rights of “the ordinary person” are heard and protected. (Harry has gone well here representing people who do not have his resources.)

Anyway, I hope everyone will bear this in mind when it comes to the next election. And let’s hope Starmer dares to speak up a bit more against the right wing press once he’s been elected!

I'm glad of this result. What a vile practice.
Harry is clearly a very troubled person, but phone hacking could make anyone distrustful, even if they have good mental health. He thought his own family was leaking and briefing against him. I'm hoping he can put this behind him and move on. I hope others similarly get closure.

It's high time a lot of people woke up to how much they're being manipulated by newspapers, social media, etc.

This, a million times over.

Good points, @ThisisgroundcontroltoMajorTom Greed does seem to dominate. It's all about profit over people.

Great post TallerSally well said!

Harry’s experience certainly highlights how we tolerate total bulllshit being written in our newspapers and repeated again and again on sm and no one is held to account for it!

Ahh thanks! I went to type Heather Mills but my mind wandered!

Oh cry me a river Piers Morgan......