Seven high-profile individuals are bringing claims against Associated Newspapers Limited (“ANL”), the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and MailOnline. The Claimants include Price Harry, Duke of Sussex; Sir Elton John and his husband, David Furnish; Elizabeth Hurley; Baroness Lawerence of Clarendon; Sir Simon Hughes; and Sadie Frost. They allege that ANL used unlawful information gathering techniques over the span of nearly two decades between 1993 to 2011 in order to obtain their private information and publish such information in ANL newspapers.
It is alleged that these methods included phone hacking, the bugging of vehicles and private premises, the use of private investigators, deception tactics, and the accessing of private records. Some of this information is said to have been obtained through impersonation or other forms of misinterpretation. Prince Harry relies on 14 articles in support of his claim; Sadie Frost relies on 11 articles; Sir Elton John and David Furnish rely on 10 articles; Baroness Doreen Lawrence relies on 5 articles; and Elizabeth Hurley relies on 15 articles. Sir Simon Hughes, unlike the other Claimants, does not rely on articles in support of his claim but instead alleges an incident of unlawful information gathering involving a Mail on Sunday journalist. The Claimants argue that the information contained in these articles would not have been voluntarily disclosed to journalists and could not have been obtained through lawful means.
The Claimants allege misuse of private information through unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking, illicit data collection and the use of private investigators. ANL strongly denies all allegations, maintaining that the information in the publications complained of was obtained lawfully and derived from legitimate sources such as press officers, publicists, or material already in the public domain.
They key issues before the court include whether unlawful information gathering activities did in fact take place and whether the claims are time-barred under the applicable limitation rules. The general limitation period for privacy claims is six years from the date of the breach. However, the Claimants rely on section 32 of the Limitation Act 1980, arguing that the limitation period is to be postponed because they could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the alleged wrongdoings before October 2016 due to deliberate concealment by ANL.
ANL firmly disputes all allegations of concealment and relies on the fact that the articles complained of were published nearly 20 years ago and the Claimants would have therefore been able to take legal action before October 2016.
Taylor Hampton is currently in the early stages of investigating claims against ANL. If you believe your private information has been misused or believe you may have been targeted by ANL, please contact our specialist teams by emailing enquiries@taylorhampton.co.uk. A member of our team will get in touch with you to arrange a confidential call. See our phone hacking legal services page HERE.