The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Murdoch claims not admissable
Claims made against Rupert Murdoch by several individuals, including the Duke of Sussex, as part of legal action against the publisher of The Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering cannot be tested at trial, a High Court judge has ruled.
Barristers representing various individuals suing the company over allegations of unlawful information gathering claimed earlier this year that Mr Murdoch knew of unlawful activity as early as 2004 but “turned a blind eye” to the accusations while overseeing a “culture of impunity” at the publisher.
They asked the court to update parts of their case after the release of further information and to change parts of the duke’s claim to include allegations that NGN unlawfully gathered private information.
NGN denies the accusations, with its lawyers previously telling the court the new claims were a “scurrilous and cynical attack”.
On Tuesday, Mr Justice Fancourt ruled the new claims against “trophy targets” such as Mr Murdoch could not be taken to a trial scheduled for January, stating they added “nothing material”, but said some other amendments could be made, including some concerning other senior NGN executives.
He said: “I also consider there is a desire on the part of those running the litigation on the claimants’ side to shoot at ‘trophy’ targets, whether those are political issues or high-profile individuals.
“This cannot become an end in itself: it only matters to the court so far as it is material and proportionate to the resolution of the individual causes of action. The trial is not an inquiry.
“The claimants have sought to introduce a vast quantity of new allegations and material, much of which is likely to be highly contentious, and there is no prospect of the time listed for trial accommodating these allegations.”
In a summary in relation to Harry’s claim, Mr Justice Fancourt said the duke could only make some changes to his individual case, ruling he could not introduce new allegations from 1994, 1995 and 2016 or new allegations of phone hacking.
But he said the duke could “in principle” change the details of his case to name “certain further journalists and private investigators”, and bring allegations of “landline voicemail interception”.