High-profile figures, including Prince Harry and Hugh Grant, intensify their legal actions against Rupert Murdoch, accusing his media outfits of engaging in unlawful surveillance and phone hacking.
In an intensifying legal battle at the High Court in London, several UK politicians and celebrities, including Prince Harry and actor Hugh Grant, are ramping up their legal actions against media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. They are pressing ahead with accusations that Murdoch was aware of unlawful activities, specifically phone hacking and intrusive surveillance, carried out by his British tabloids, including The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World. These allegations suggest a pattern of illegality aimed at serving the commercial or political objectives of News Group Newspapers (NGN), a subsidiary of Murdoch’s media conglomerate.
Among the 45 individuals pursuing litigation against NGN are notable figures such as former Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and Baroness Lawrence, the mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. They argue that Murdoch’s newspapers engaged in a culture of impunity, with senior executives within the company, including Murdoch’s son James, Rebekah Brooks, and Will Lewis, allegedly participating in or covering up these illegal practices.
Specific claims involve accusations of a concerted effort to destroy or conceal evidence, highlighted by an incident where a computer hard drive reportedly associated with Rebekah Brooks went missing in 2011. This has raised allegations of manufactured explanations to account for the disappearance, further suggesting efforts to hinder the uncovering of illegal activities within NGN.
NGN has countered these allegations, describing them as a “scurrilous and cynical attack.” The company has sought to challenge the proposed amendments to the legal claims, asserting that they are irrelevant and detract from the quest for justice for victims of phone hacking.
Despite NGN’s resistance, a trial is scheduled for January, where these allegations will be more comprehensively examined. This ongoing legal saga sheds light on the complex dynamics of the phone-hacking scandal that has marred the reputation of parts of the British press and sparked significant legal and public backlash against Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
