Piers Morgan 'injected' information into royal articles, Prince Harry phone hacking trial hears

8 June 2023, 19:56

Piers Morgan would "inject information" into royal coverage, the trial into Prince Harry's claims of phone hacking by tabloid journalists has heard.

A former Mirror royal correspondent told the trial that then-editor Mr Morgan would sometimes contribute to her reports.

Jane Kerr said: "The then editor of the Mirror, Piers Morgan, also engaged with the palace press offices and would occasionally direct or inject information into a story."

In court, Ms Kerr accepted she would "not necessarily" know how Mr Morgan might have obtained information, adding it might have come from him speaking to "the palace".

She also confirmed she would have included a "tip or information" provided by Mr Morgan in a story.

Mr Morgan has said that no illegal news gathering took place under his editorship.

The duke, 38, is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called "blagging" or gaining information by deception, and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

He alleges that about 140 articles published between 1996 and 2010 by MGN titles contained information gathered using unlawful methods, and 33 have been selected to be considered at the trial.

MGN is contesting his claim and has either denied or not admitted that articles about Harry being examined at the trial involved phone hacking or unlawful activity.

Ms Kerr, who worked for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for nearly 20 years to 2010: "I've never intercepted a voicemail, I wouldn't even know how."

But Mr Sherborne, acting for Prince Harry, said MGN had previously accepted that there was "habitual and widespread voicemail interception and use of unlawful information gathering across all three newspapers".

"You seem to remain totally uninvolved and totally unaware of that, is that your evidence?" Mr Sherborne asked. "It is," Ms Kerr said, adding that she "had no idea of anything that you have said".

Ms Kerr faced questions over articles she had written about Harry, but said she could not remember or did not know where certain details in stories came from, such as in reports about Harry contracting glandular fever or over his relationship with his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

Ms Kerr also faced questions on two stories about the duke's relationship with Ms Davy in January 2005 entitled "Harry's girl 'to dump him'" and "Chelsy is not happy", with the latter containing details of the pair speaking over the phone after he allegedly "flirted" with another woman at a party.

The ex-journalist was asked about the removal of details about the length of calls from a draft copy of the story, as shown by an email from her to freelance journalist Mike Behr in South Africa, where Ms Davy was at the time.

Mr Sheborne claimed the detail was removed from the published article "because it was obvious that that line gave the game away that there had been blagging of call data".

"I don't know the reason why someone removed it," Ms Kerr said, with Mr Sherborne saying it was "deeply suspicious". "I'm not sure it's suspicious," Ms Kerr said, adding it was "obvious" that a girlfriend might call her boyfriend.

Harry had ‘huge amount of paranoia’ after press intrusion, court told

Mr Sherborne claimed Mr Behr was an "expert at getting billing data", but Ms Kerr said she knew him as a freelance journalist and would have asked him to use his contacts to get Ms Davy's reaction to a story.

"I would have taken what he said as a... genuine source for a story," she said, adding: "I've no knowledge of anybody using unlawful means to file copy to me."

At the end of her evidence, the judge hearing the trial, Mr Justice Fancourt, asked Ms Kerr if she would "ever make up things" for a story.

"No, never," Ms Kerr said, adding: "I would always have to be able to account for it if there was a complaint."

The former journalist said she felt she had a "certain responsibility to the palace" and a position of "privilege".

"I don't think I would cross the line," she said. In her witness statement, Ms Kerr said she never used private investigators to engage in unlawful information gathering activities.

Other claims made by Prince Harry in the trial include finding a tracking device on a car Ms Davy.