Duke of Sussex court case: key witness statement false

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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?

It may be, @BasiliskStare, but personally I very much doubt that just this one tabloid took the high road!

It may be, @BasiliskStare, but personally I very much doubt that just this one tabloid took the high road!

It may be, @BasiliskStare, but personally I very much doubt that just this one tabloid took the high road!

Oh ffs. Frozen screen!

Why he had to mention Meghan at all, as his case relates to stories about his life before him. What a chump. 🤡

It is really funny

"The Duke of Sussex seemed every inch the man who prowls Wetherspoons, desperately looking for someone to spill his pint"

Good job he doesn’t read all those articles about himself….

I copied the same bit 😂 it was even funnier in the main body of the text

I am struck by his use of the word “paranoid” to describe how he was allegedly made to feel. Is that a “sweet nod” to Diana 🤔

That is brilliant! So accurate!

Thanks to everyone who’s shared the updates from the case today.

have to say I am surprised that it sounds like Harry didn’t get a whole lot of challenge - the KC could have been an awful lot harder on him, given he told a number of lies on stand and made a number of completely unfounded statements that surely could have been very easily pulled apart.

ANL know what they’re doing though so hopefully that’s a deliberate tactic.

Honestly it sounds like Harry didn’t help his case at all. None of what he said is remotely evidence of UIG and by constantly rambling and talking about other things like how his wife feels and his personal vendetta about his private life, which is totally irrelevant to the case, surely that’s hugely undermining.

I suspect that ANL’s witnesses are going to reveal a Sussex source that might be news to Harry?

I just feel there’s more to come from ANL and that it’ll be a huge story and torpedo Harry’s fragile ego. Something’s brewing.

Harry really has become just a figure of parody.

I don’t think they needed to cross examine him, just letting him talk showed what drivel comes out of his mouth, nothing of any substance there.

He’s stuck in an endless loop of ‘Poor me, poor me, poor me, and my miserable wife’. It’s pitiful.

The sad part is that he is spoiling for a fight because of things that happened in a different pub, to extend the analogy.

I wonder if they gave him a relatively easy ride on the witness stand because they know they can counter his "evidence", which let's face it seems to be his feelings rather than facts. They don't gain anything by destroying him as a credible witness, he can do that himself. I wonder if Sherborne regrets talking him into joining the case.

Yes I’ve seen it in court where the barrister just lets the reply hang there, because it’s so stupid there is no need to do anything else but pause, raise an eyebrow maybe a hmmmm, and move on.

They certainly seemed to go easy on him yesterday which I'm sure was intentional and all part of the plan. They also gave him plenty of opportunity to talk, which when it's PH is never a good idea (I expect Sherborne's butt cheeks were tightly clenched for the entirety of that performance!).
A short opening statement on the first day and then calling him to the box a day early and for just four hours (groundwork laid). It leads me to believe they have some pretty solid evidence to bring later.
Will be interesting to follow.

Very true. Especially about the different pub.

May I recommend Tom Sykes' coverage of the case? He's the Daily Beast editor at large, who is also a bit of a social insider wrt royal circles and he's ex royal rota. He's been in court since the start of the trial, and has given a more comprehensive overview of what went on than the newspapers. Linked below is his feedback on the morning session. He thinks it was a bad morning for Harry, but not a slam dunk for ANL.

I don't usually watch Dan Wootten, but Tom Sykes was on the DW YouTube channel last night giving further feedback on Harry's testimony. Rather amusingly, DW has an AI Harry giving evidence - good for a bit of light relief.

I completely agree and think Harry is going to be floored when ANL reveal their source(s).

I've just had a little laugh to myself after reading this, I can just imagine that it comes out that the main informer was Harry 😆

I was thinking of Meghan. It is well known that she tips off media .
Examples - “ hike” on Coronation Day, leaving beauty salon on Pippa’s wedding day and let’s not forget her walking up and down the street in front of the DM offices wearing wellies !

Thanks for the recommendation and the link @Indianrollerbird
I will certainly give that a watch as I'm particularly interested in what hasn't made it to mainstream reporting. The Devil is in the detail?

Meghan would be the killer Ace up ANL's sleeve 😁