Lawyers representing Prince Harry and other high profile figures involved in a legal battle with the publisher of the Daily Mirror over phone hacking are seeking £2m in costs, a court has heard.
Last month, a judge ruled that phone hacking became “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) titles in the late 1990s – and “even to some extent” during the Leveson Inquiry into press standards in 2011.
Judge Timothy Fancourt concluded that the Duke of Sussex’s phone was hacked “to a modest extent” by MGN, awarding him £140,600 in damages.
A follow-up hearing dealing with the consequences of the ruling began at the High Court in London on Monday.
The court heard the group of people who sued the publisher are currently seeking payment of £1,976,660 from MGN towards the legal costs of the case.
David Sherborne, for the group, said: “We were the overall winners, clearly… we were overwhelmingly successful.”
In written submissions, the barrister said that “MGN’s dishonest and unreasonable defence” of the so-called generic case into unlawful information gathering at the publisher “resulted in a distinct and huge generic trial, which it resoundingly lost”.
Mr Sherborne added that decisions about the costs in the duke’s case against the publisher were reserved until the rest of his claim was determined.
Prince Harry sued MGN for damages, claiming journalists at its publications were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
The Duke of Sussex‘s case was “proved in part”, with 15 of the 33 articles presented as samples in court found to be the product of phone hacking or other unlawful information gathering, the judge ruled.
On Monday, the High Court heard there were a further 115 articles in his claim.
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Mr Sherborne said in written submissions: “Although the duke is certainly prepared to attempt to resolve the remainder of his claim through agreement, it is necessary to list the trial of the remainder of his claim as soon as is practicable.”
Roger Mallalieu KC, for MGN, told the court that the publisher made offers to settle with Harry, but the terms of the offers were currently confidential.
The barrister said in written submissions that the group suing the publisher had only seen “partial success on the trial issues” and that those who lost their claims should pay their “respective share” of the so-called “generic” costs.
Prince Harry’s case was heard alongside similar claims brought by actor Michael Le Vell, who is most famous for playing Kevin Webster in Coronation Street, actress Nikki Sanderson, and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse.
Claims brought by Sanderson and Wightman were dismissed by Mr Justice Fancourt because they were made too late, despite the judge finding that some of their complaints were proved.
He found that nine articles relating to Ms Sanderson and one article related to Ms Wightman were the product of unlawful information gathering.
Mr Sherborne is expected to ask for the green light from the judge to appeal against this decision.
Le Vell, whose real name is Michael Turner, was awarded a total of £31,650 in damages after the judge ruled his phone hacking and unlawful information-gathering case was “proved only to a limited extent”.
In his written arguments, Mr Mallalieu said MGN would be seeking interim payments from Turner, Sanderson and Wightman of around £100,000 each.
An MGN spokesperson said: “We welcomed December’s judgment that gave the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago.
“Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid compensation.”
