Here's PA's account of court yesterday. Giving evidence was John Wellington, former managing editor of the MoS. The managing editor, fwiw, is in charge of operations, staffing, budgeting and legal/ethical compliance. JW is continuing his evidence today, PA says.
@bluegreygreen apologies for posting the whole text - there's no way to archive or link to this.
EX-MAIL ON SUNDAY EDITOR NEVER AWARE OF REPORTERS INTERCEPTING CALLS, COURT TOLD
about:blank Nina Massey
By Nina Massey, Press Association Law Correspondent
691 words
25 February 2026
17:07
Press Association National Newswire
PRESSA
English
(c)2026, The Press Association, All Rights Reserved
A former Mail on Sunday managing editor has told the High Court he was never aware of any journalists at the newspaper accessing someone else's voicemail or intercepting a phone call.
John Wellington, who held the role at the title from 2000 to 2020, was giving evidence in the trial of claims brought by a group of household names, including the Duke of Sussex, against the publisher of the titles, about:blank Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
The publisher is accused of unlawful information-gathering, something which it strongly denies.
ANL is defending the claims brought by the group, which also includes Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
In his witness statement, Mr Wellington said: "I have been shown a copy of an email I sent to all staff reporters in August 2006 reminding them of the company's strict policy regarding the use of illegal or unethical inquiry methods including the interception or accessing of telephone calls or messages.
"I explained that this policy applied to journalists engaging in such practices themselves or commissioning outside agencies to do so and that each journalist must be certain that anyone providing information to the newspaper had not used illegal or unethical methods to obtain it."
Mr Wellington added: "In all my time at The Mail on Sunday, I was never aware of any of the journalists intercepting a phone call or accessing someone else's voicemail so I would not have sent this email in response to any incident at The Mail on Sunday.
"I often shared Press Complaints Commission comms or guidance with the Mail on Sunday reporters and clearly, the News of the World allegations were very serious."
The journalist also told the court that, in 2007, editor-in-chief Paul Dacre banned the use of inquiry agents and that, in the run-up to the ban, the Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail were "generally tightening the controls" around their use.
The court heard that Mr Wellington was responsible for signing off on payments made by the Mail on Sunday, and approving invoices.
He said: "I first became aware that journalists were using inquiry agents in about 1997 when I started seeing the invoices for these inquiry agents in my role as deputy managing editor and later managing editor.
"My understanding from the invoices that I saw, and my discussions with the desk heads, particularly the news desk, was that inquiry agents were used to get addresses and phone numbers quickly so that the journalists could interview the people connected to a story."
In written submissions, David Sherborne, for the group, said there could be little doubt that journalists and executives across the Mail titles engaged in, or were complicit in, the culture of unlawful information gathering.
He said: "The culture of the Mail on Sunday started from the top. Managing editor John Wellington signed off hundreds of invoices for work that bear the hallmarks of unlawful information gathering, including for indisputable, voicemail interception of Sadie Frost and Sir Simon Hughes."
Earlier on Wednesday, former Mail on Sunday journalist Chris Anderson concluded his second day of evidence.
It is alleged that he received the product of what he knew to be unlawful information gathering by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire via freelance journalist Greg Miskiw - formerly of the News of the World - in relation to Sadie Frost Law and Sir Simon, two other claimants in the case.
He is also alleged to have discussed with Mr Miskiw the "unlawful or illegal services" that Mr Mulcaire could offer the Mail on Sunday.
In his witness statement, Mr Anderson said: "These allegations are false.
"I have never committed or commissioned a third party to commit phone hacking.
"In fact, to the best of my recollection, I was not even aware that phone hacking existed until Clive Goodman was arrested in August 2006, and certainly not as a tool used in news gathering."
The trial before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude in March with a written judgment expected at a later date.
PA Media