Duke of Sussex court case: key witness statement false

[bluegreygreen]

I looked for another thread on this but didn't see one.

The story is about the case Prince Harry (and 6 others) are bringing against the Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers) for phone hacking. Back in July the claimants were told to reveal any payments that were made to witnesses in exchange for evidence; this seems more serious.

From what I can gather the main witness (Gavin Burrows) in the case was employed by the claimants' team over a couple of years to help research into the phone hacking by different organisations and to track down relevant people. He says he was asked on several occasions if he had worked for the Daily Mail and always denied it, and the first he knew of the current case was when he heard in 2023 that Baroness Lawrence had brought it based on his evidence.

Apparently Burrows wrote a statement at that time (2023) denying the claims and has now written a more detailed statement also denying the claims.

The claimants now don't want to call him as a witness (unsurprisingly) but do want to rely on (some of) his evidence as 'hearsay evidence'.
They also don't want Associated Newspapers to be allowed to call him as a witness.

Telegraph archive link
https://archive.is/YAjNq

I haven't heard before of 'hearsay evidence' being used like this - does anyone know the rules? How can it be tested?

He would probably have found it easier if he could accept a certain lack of privacy comes with his role. Or decided to step away from the public eye completely and live in an obscure part of the US. At the moment he has the worst of both choices.

I don’t think in a 9 week trial the judge is going to say take the day off. There’s going to be all manner of delays, overrunning, examinations ending early, adjournments for this that and the other to be amended etc. I do wonder if Anthony White has deliberately finished his opening early in order to discombobulate Sherborne and in particular, Harry. I imagine tomorrow would have entailed Harry being holed up in his hotel with a solicitor going through his evidence and coaching him for his big day in court. But now he will need to do it without a dress rehearsal.

ANL legal team seem keen to get going!

Makes sense! , of course waiting unnecessarily will cost money I expect but who was supposed to give evidence first? , if Harry was Thursday, would the ANL opening statement really have taken two whole days?

I'm fairly sure he claimed that he'd been "talked out of" taking any action by the family, but can't find a link now

As for the endless carrying-on about how his relationship with Chelsy was targeted, he did that last time and I can't help wondering how his wife feels about this fixation

I do wonder if Anthony White has deliberately finished his opening early in order to discombobulate Sherborne and in particular, Harry. I imagine tomorrow would have entailed Harry being holed up in his hotel with a solicitor going through his evidence and coaching him for his big day in court. But now he will need to do it without a dress rehearsal

Edited to add I wondered the same, @Indianrollerbird, but surely Harry's team will have rehearsed the evidence with him before now ... unless perhaps they thought he might forget it all

I did wonder whether Wright (the ANL barrister) had deliberately shortened his opening address in order to wrongfoot Sherbourne.

Who now has to find H and get him ready to give.evidence a day early.

Well, obviously from your anecdote he was able to come and go. Provided he didn't include journos in his social.plans.

Cross-post.

Who can forget his grandstanding proclaiming victory for Harry after he settled the last case. It was very odd, he is another who loves the attention. Harry is manna from heaven to him, a real meal ticket. This case may back fire horribly for them both.
I seem to remember DL interviewed a short while ago saying she would never have gotten involved had she not been asked personally by Harry.

In his evidence at a previous trial Harry says he "bumped into" David Sherborne at a party at Elton's home in the South of France when he (Harry) was venting about him, Meghan and the media. He hadn't considered suing (although the timeline is a bit dubious here as he sued and then withdrew from William and Kate's case IIRC) but Sherborne convinced him he could sue - sounds a bit like the old "where there's blame - there's a claim" compo lawyers.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/07/its-a-lot-eight-hours-in-witness-box-takes-toll-on-prince-harry

On the defence side, reporters do not have to reveal sources in court, is that still the case? The fact the defence are happy to supply emails and sources doesn't give the impression that any of it is top secret.

For fear of being unkind Harry saying the press intrusion caused extreme paranoia, he shouldn't be surprised if they then bring up his well documented drug/alcohol use, known causes of paranoia.

@Lunde

You are a superstar - many thanks 🙏

Thanks @Lunde

Archive link here for those who prefer https://archive.is/70z4j

Telegraph summary https://archive.ph/MUspJ

Times summary https://archive.ph/cBlu6

😁

Brilliant - thank you 🙏

Bumped into????

Surely a claim for physical injury is due....!

Duke of Sussex to give evidence in Mail group trial
published at 09:24
09:24
IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS
Prince Harry is due to give evidence today in a civil case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
According to reports earlier this week, he was due to give evidence on Thursday - but his team say he will be addressing court as early as this morning.
He is one of seven claimants represented by barrister David Sherborne, who in the past two days has set out examples of the alleged intrusion experienced by the royal, as well as Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, actors Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, former Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes and Doreen Lawrence, a campaigner whose son Stephen was murdered in a racist attack in south London in 1993
The group has accused ANL of "clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering" for stories between 1993 and "beyond" 2018, including through private investigators and blagging.
ANL's lawyer Antony White KC says the claimants are "clutching at straws", and that in some cases celebrities' friends and social circles contributed as sources to Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday journalists.

Irritation from prince's team about earlier-than-expected court appearance
published at 09:36
09:36

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
There’s some irritation from Prince Harry’s side about the change in timetable for his court appearance, with Harry now giving evidence on Wednesday morning rather than on Thursday.
It’s a result of Associated Newspaper Limited (ANL)'s legal team getting through their opening statement yesterday much quicker than anticipated.
Is this mind games? Does it reduce Harry’s time to prep for his appearance in the witness box? There’s a bit of needle in comments from his team.
"ANL have had months to inform the court that their opening argument would last less than two hours, instead, they have had to resort to game playing and dirty tricks," says a source close to Prince Harry.
"They think that by pulling the schedule forward 24 hours they are giving Prince Harry less time to prepare - he’s been preparing for this moment for the last three years.
"Safe to say, he’s ready."

Thanks @jeffgoldblum

He never ever learns not to comment, does he? Even now, when all it does is tell people he's rattled.

All they needed to do was not comment at all, or at most say 'Yes, we're ready' but he has to give a snarky clap-back.

You are right, he does the same thing time after time, obviously thinking he will get a different outcome! 🙄, not sure when it will actually start yet , no times given.

Have been thinking overnight that I hope Chelsy Davy is OK.

I know she's now married with a family, but it can't be pleasant for her to have all these details brought up again, and she'll probably see some coverage no matter how much she tries to avoid it.

I read earlier that Harry and his solicitor are trying to get her to be a witness in this case!
despite the fact she had already refused the mirror case and doesn’t want to be involved.
absolutely outrageous if true , the poor woman is married with children, this was years ago and obviously she’s put it behind her!

He doesn’t give a toss about anyone but himself. Selfish pig.

Not a spare seat in sight as court waits to hear from Prince Harry
published at 10:31
10:31

Imogen James
Reporting from the High Court
I'm here in the overflow room of the High Court, with a few other eager journalists.
Despite the heavy rain, camera crews outside are sat tight, waiting for the arrival of Prince Harry. As I was coming in, I heard whispers from passersby wondering who it was drawing all this attention.
I had to queue to get into the building, and spotted a few familiar faces I've seen this week doing the same.
There were spare seats in court on Tuesday - but not today. It's the big one we've all been waiting for: Prince Harry's evidence.
Now, we wait. Court is due to begin at 10:30 GMT, initially focusing on other matters in this case, but then we'll hear from the Duke of Sussex.
I'll be here to bring you the latest throughout the day, so get comfortable and stick around.