Former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has denied any knowledge of illegal activity
The judge in a privacy case brought by Prince Harry and others has questioned why nearly 30 journalists, including Piers Morgan, have not given evidence.
Mr Justice Fancourt said Mr Morgan had recently had “a lot to say” about phone hacking “out of court”.
He is among the list of journalists about whom the judge may have to “draw conclusions” because they did not appear on the witness stand.
Mr Morgan recently denied knowledge of illegal activity in an interview with the BBC.
“To be clear, I initially said that I have never hacked a phone. I never told anyone to hack a phone. And not a single story has been published in the Mirror in my time about phone hacking,” he said in an interview with Amol Rajan.
The judge also highlighted a recent interview by former newspaper executive Neil Wallis.
Mr Wallis, who was acquitted of phone hacking, recently criticized those who bring cases against newspapers in the BBC documentary Scandalous: Phone Hacking On Trial.
He told this show: “You’ve got pretty much everyone who’s ever appeared in a tabloid newspaper saying – give me big cash, please. I think it’s actually a legal scandal.”
Mr Justice Fancourt said: “There is a question in my mind whether any of the persons on my list could and should have given evidence.”
As well as Piers Morgan and Neil Wallis, the list of 29 journalists includes:
- Matthew Wright, former Mirror celebrity columnist and now TV presenter
- Mark Thomas, former editor of People
- Gary Jones, former editor of the Mirror and now editor of the Daily Express
- Former newspaper chief executive Nick Buckley, who the court was told kept a list of potential Palm Pilot hacking victims
- Dean Roosevelt, former royal editor of People newspaper, who wrote stories about Prince Harry
- Two of the Mirror’s former ‘3am Girls’, Jessica Cullen and Polly Graham.
One of those mentioned, Eugene Duffy, is deceased.
The two lead lawyers in the case, David Sherborne and Andrew Green KC, will address the judge next week in closing statements.
They will make arguments about missing witnesses and Mr Justice Fancourt will have to consider allegations made during the trial against those who did not testify.
The privacy complaint was brought by Prince Harry, Coronation Street actors Nicky Sanderson and Michael Turner and Fiona Whiteman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse.
In civil cases like this, each party can make their own decisions about which witnesses to rely on when making their case.
Mirror Group Newspapers called a handful of journalists but there was detailed evidence of many others who did not appear on the witness stand.
The plaintiffs called a series of former reporters, some convicted of phone hacking, who became whistleblowers.
The judge’s comments came as the final witnesses in the trial testified.
Coronation Street star Michael Turner, who works under his stage name Michael Le Vell, told the court his appearance on the witness stand had taken him to “really dark places” but it was time he spoke for himself.
Michael Turner suspects his messages have been hacked
He is suing the Mirror newspaper publisher for using phone hackers to gather stories about him since the 1990s.
At the time, Mr Turner said he suspected friends and colleagues were leaking information about him to the papers.
“I feel that I have wasted many years alienating many worthy people in my life because of a lack of trust,” he told the court.
Twenty-eight articles published in the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror or People newspapers often attributed quotes to “friends”, “friends” or “Corrie’s source”.
The plaintiffs allege that these phrases are used to conceal the fact that the information was taken from intercepted cell phone voicemail messages from journalists.
In one story, a conversation Michael Turner had with friend Alan Halsall was reported by the Mirror as overheard in a pub.
Mr Turner discussed how the sexual abuse allegations had devastated him, despite being cleared by a jury, and he returned to Coronation Street.
He assumed he hadn’t been overheard because he and his friend had deliberately chosen a quiet corner of the pub, away from the public.
He also said he spotted the photographer who took the pictures for the story in the back of a car with a long lens across the parking lot.
He repeatedly told the court that he believed during the story that people were selling stories about him.
“It made me question everything about who you associate with and who to trust,” he said.
But now he suspects his messages have been hacked.
Mirror Group Newspapers has already apologized after a previous judge ruled that the illegal collection of information was widespread in the publisher’s titles.
However, MGN denies the allegations made by the four plaintiffs at the center of this case, three of whom were selected as representatives of hundreds of people who could file lawsuits in the future.
Prince Harry refused an out-of-court settlement.