Duke of Sussex & Others vs ANL: thread 5

[bluegreygreen]

This is the fifth thread discussing the case Prince Harry (and 6 others) brought against the Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Limited; ANL) for alleged unlawful information gathering (UIG).
The claimants were: Prince Harry (PH); Doreen Lawrence (DL); Liz Hurley (EH/LH); Elton John (EJ); David Furnish (DF); Simon Hughes (SH); Sadie Frost (SF). They were represented by David Sherborne (DS).
The defendant (ANL) was represented by Anthony White (AMW).

Judgement was handed down by Judge Nicklin on 7th July 2026.
All claims were dismissed.
Links to the summary and full judgement are below.
We are currently awaiting decisions around costs, with the next hearing due on 29-30th July.

The threads to date were thorough discussions of the evidence (so far as we were able to obtain it), with posters giving links and explaining their views.
Following the judgement, we discussed the judgement itself, the reaction, statements made by different parties and ongoing relevant issues.

We have mostly kept things civil by avoiding more general discussion on Royal Family members, which can become partisan, and trying not to be derailed from the main topic of the thread.

We have occasionally included (when things slowed with the title case) other cases or discussions with a specific theme of free speech/press freedom, particularly when related to those with money or power preventing others from speaking.

Links to previous threads
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 4

There was limited direct reporting from court after the celebrities gave evidence; what there we followed on this link
Sky news link to court case

Summary judgement

Full judgement

Burrows is alleged to have assaulted Johnson (Johnson’s partner is Hacked Off Board member Emma Jones), yet no Police report was filed, NO interview took place and Burrows was not contacted about it at all. Johnson, for those who are interested, is an extremely talented Boxer!

The plot thickens

@bluegreygreen Sorry - I've just noticed I somewhat cross posted with you . Anyway we'll find out in a couple of weeks but interesting nonetheless

Thank you for the thread & for keeping it to the point 💐

When did Hugh Grant exit stage left?

No problem @BasiliskStare.

It's all very interesting.

I don't think there's ever been a suggestion before of the claimants knowing about Burrows being antagonistic before the claim started.
The story of him fighting Johnson did appear early on in these threads, but without a specific timeline.

The conflicting statements from Burrows were discussed in court from the start, even in the first pre-trial judgement (November 2023).

That's a good question, @DJPJ.

Interesting, @AgileRobin.

How would it benefit either Burrows or Johnson to have this story out there?

Didn't Burrows fear for his safety and possible threats from parties involved in the case?
For the judge to allow his testimony to go ahead from his base overseas these concerns must have been valid.
I’d be interested to know if there was a paper trail relating to this.

@gwendolinefairfax hope that is right. I get you can't post but hope you are reading this.

He certainly said he did.

The program he was on with Cathy Newman made him, and all the rest of them - the hacked off people etc. look dodgy to say the least.

I had the impression the whole lot of them were people who were used to deception to the degree you wouldn't believe anything they said. All the ex blaggers, phone buggers and bin searchers seemed untrustworthy no matter which side you were paying.

Certainly you can't imagine betting £50 let alone £50m on their say so!

Certainly the more I read of 'legal investigators' who were convicted hackers, who were paying other people, some of them convicted hackers, tens of thousands of pounds for evidence, the less comfortable I felt about relying on any of the evidence - and that was even without Burrows' conflicting statements.

And then we discovered there wasn't any real evidence anyway ...

I think it was a tactical move from the claimants lawyers. They used an alleged altercation where no Police report was filed, where no interview with Burrows took place to try and say that Burrows retracted his statement out of revenge. This does not sit well with me. You don’t put yourself and family through hell for five years for this alleged ‘revenge’. Given what we now know about the solicitor in charge and the the email account she gifted to Johnson (which mysteriously disappeared) this entire case was masterminded a long time ago and before Burrows. Operation Bluebird, several lies and a likelihood the insurers may not pay out because they knew that Burrows distanced himself in 2022. He complained to the SRA and to Galbraith about his concerns. Galbraith did not respond. It’s becoming increasingly clear that this really is (allegedly) a scam, a gravy train and that people who had nothing to do with it in the first place have had lives ruined. I think now karma is taking shape x

Also I need to point out something else. Burrows was not ‘paid’ for evidence, he was paid to write a book and was paid to ‘door knock’ people or visit people all over the UK as instructed by Johnson. Burrows, as was revealed in the press recently, had his life rights taken away and had to pay tens of thousands of pounds to get them back through the Courts.There are two other investigators I know of who are desperately trying to get their life rights back. If someone has them, you are effectively ‘owned’.

They were valid. Several Police reports especially about his wife. Someone was arrested. Burrows was not hiding and I think the media linked the two to make it appear he was. The reality was he left the UK 14 months earlier. Threats were absolutely real to his family. I won’t name people on here for legal reasons. But those reports exist

Thank you @AgileRobinfor those details and insight. Dots being joined. Do you have any opinion on where and when Hugh Grant slithered out of this mess?

If Burrowscand his family were threatened, then that is disgusting! Also hypocritical, too. It sounds like his life was made a misery.

I think everyone should read Appendix 3 of the judgement. It’s devoted to Burrows and his unreliability as a witness.

Sorry , I’ve been distracted but have been reading your posts! Excellent! Keep it up ladies.

I am so confused! Is Burrows a goodie or a baddie? Who threatened his life and doesn’t that support Harry’s case?

Glad it’s not just me! I can’t keep up.

Acc to X, the sentebale case starts in September. Will we discuss that here or will we want a new thread?

New thread so I don't get confused 😀

I haven't read Appendix 3 yet - I'll get there!

Burrows may not have been 'paid' for evidence but my recollection is that Judge Nicklin said it wasn't possible to separate between the payments that were made to witnesses and their evidence, i.e. the payments were not clearly separately made for other things, and the discussions about payments happened alongside discussions about evidence.

We discussed re the Sentebale case upthread - to be a separate thread. I think @AnAutumnCrow may be starting it.

@SheinSussexRead appendix 3. He’s just utterly unreliable for both sides! The judge was not impressed!

Didn't someone say that Harry and co are trying very hard to settle prior to going to court (maybe he's learned the hard way from ANL) so who knows? Maybe it won't happen after all although I suspect SC wants her day in court.

Maybe, just maybe he’s learned from this utter fiasco. But I won’t hold my breath.