By Michael Holden
LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – A witness whose testimony could decide the outcome of a privacy lawsuit brought by Prince Harry and other high-profile figures against the Daily Mail’s publisher will be allowed to give evidence remotely, the judge hearing the case ruled on Thursday.
Harry, the younger son of King Charles, and six others including singer Elton John have accused Associated Newspapers’ tabloids at the High Court in London of being involved in unlawful information gathering such as phone hacking dating back 30 years.
Associated, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday, has denied any wrongdoing, and current and former senior journalists and staff have given testimony since the trial began last month to reject those allegations.
PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR STATEMENT IN FOCUS
One of the central figures in the case is private investigator Gavin Burrows, who the claimants’ lawyers have said had told them that he had carried out widespread unlawful activities on behalf of Associated, from phone hacking to obtaining medical records by deception.
They have relied on a witness statement Burrows provided in August 2021 as a fundamental part of the most serious allegations which have been put to Mail journalists.
But he later retracted those claims and provided further declarations to Associated’s legal team, saying that he believed the statement given to Harry’s lawyers was “substantially untrue” and that he believed his signature had been forged.
He said he had never worked for the publisher, bar on one occasion, and that he had received regular payments from a team gathering evidence on behalf of the claimants, including 25,000 pounds for a book.
Burrows is now living at an undisclosed location overseas having left Britain last May, and has declined to return to give evidence in person or to travel to another country, citing health concerns and that he had been subjected to threats.
The issue has led to lengthy legal arguments, and on Thursday judge Matthew Nicklin overruled concerns from David Sherborne, the lawyer for Harry and the other claimants, to say that Burrows could give his evidence by videolink as he was a “central plank” to the allegations.
“During the trial, which is now I believe in its 29th day, the claimants have relied upon Mr Burrows’ evidence to put very serious allegations of wrongdoing to several of the defendant’s witnesses,” Nicklin said.
“Mr Burrows’ evidence is a major component of the claimants’ case. Without it, a substantial number of allegations of unlawful information gathering made against the defendant and its journalists could not be sustained.”
No date has yet been set for Burrows’ testimony, with live evidence due to conclude at the end of March.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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