Lawyer wraps up Prince Harry's phone hacking case by grilling ex-tabloid reporter
David Sherborne, Prince Harry's lead lawyer, arrives at the High Court in London, Thursday, June 8, 2023. Prince Harry has five active legal cases, three of them involving his battle with the British tabloids. Credit: AP / Frank Augstein
A lawyer for Prince Harry finished setting out the royal’s case against a newspaper publisher on Thursday, quizzing a former tabloid reporter about information inserted into stories by then-editor Piers Morgan.
On the final day of evidence, attorney David Sherborne grilled former Daily Mirror royal correspondent Jane Kerr, whose byline appears on several of the 33 articles cited by Harry as examples of unlawful intrusion by publisher Mirror Group Newspapers.
The lawyer suggested to Kerr that some of the information in her stories came from phone hacking.
“It absolutely didn’t,” Kerr said with a touch of anger.
“I’ve never intercepted a voicemail. I wouldn’t even know how,” Kerr added. She also denied knowing about lawbreaking by any freelance journalists or private investigators employed by the newspaper.
Kerr acknowledged in her written witness statement that Morgan, who edited the Daily Mirror between 1995 and 2004, “would occasionally direct or inject information into a story” without her knowing the source.
Morgan has denied knowing about phone hacking at the Mirror, and the company is contesting Harry's claims.
Jane Kerr, Mirror reporter, arrives at the High Court in London, Thursday, June 8, 2023. Prince Harry has five active legal cases, three of them involving his battle with the British tabloids. The case against Mirror Group Newspapers, which has paid more than 100 million pounds ($125 million) to settle hundreds of unlawful information-gathering claims is the first of his three hacking lawsuits to go to trial. Credit: AP/Frank Augstein
Harry, who flew from his home in California to testify earlier in the week, was not at the High Court on Thursday. He spent a day and a half in the witness box on Tuesday and Wednesday answering questions about his allegations that British tabloids had unlawfully snooped on his life throughout his childhood and young adulthood.
Harry, 38, is one of four claimants whose lawsuits against Mirror Group Newspapers are being heard together at the High Court in London. Hearings are due to last until the end of June, with the judge, Timothy Fancourt, likely to deliver his ruling several weeks later.
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