LONDON.- A UK judge ruled on Friday that the prncipe Harry was a victim of pirate telephone by the editorial group of the tabloid Daily Mirror, in its first significant victory in its war against press sensationalist.
A judge at the High Court in London accused Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) of having illegally accessed the prince’s messenger, for which he must compensate him with 140,600 pounds (178,500 dollars) in damages.
The magistrate estimated that 15 of the 33 articles presented as evidence, published between 1996 and 2009, were the result of hacking into its messaging system by the publisher, which also publishes Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.
Prince Harry celebrated, through his lawyer, the conviction and promised to continue defending himself in court against the press.
“The sentence handed down today vindicates me and gives me confidence,” declared, on behalf of the Duke of Sussex, his lawyer David Sherborne, in a very virulent statement against the practices of the press towards the member of the royal family.
“La misin contina”
The prince, youngest son of King Charles III, who is involved in several lawsuits against the British tabloids, ended the text by warning that he will not give up his efforts.
“The mission continues,” said the 39-year-old prince, who has moved to the United States with his wife Meghan and their two children, in the statement, after distancing himself from his family.
Magistrate Timothy Fancourt found in his trial of the facts that the prince’s mobile phone had been hacked, although to a modest extent. “I consider that his (the prince’s) phone was only hacked to a modest extent, and that it was probably carefully monitored by certain people at each newspaper,” Fancourt said.
The judge concluded that the newspapers carried out extensive phone hacking of celebrities between 2006 and 2011, even while a public inquiry into the conduct of the British press was underway.
After the ruling of the High Court of London, the publishing group partially acknowledged its guilt in the events.
“When historical irregularities occur, we apologize unreservedly, assume full responsibility and pay appropriate compensation,” the condemned publishing group wrote.
Although MGN denied intercepting voice messages and also argued that the prince filed some claims too late.
The magistrate highlighted in his judgment Prince Harry’s tendency to think that: “everything that was published was the product of hacked voice messages because this practice was prevalent within the Mirror Group at the time.”
“But this practice was not the only journalistic tool at that time,” which is why he rejected the prince’s accusations in the other 18 articles presented.
During the trial, the prince gave evidence for eight hours, spread over two days of hearing, last June.
War against the press
It was the first appearance by a member of the royal family in court since Edward VII in 1891, before he became king, in a libel trial. This ruling gives him reason in one of the several cases initiated against the tabloids, four days after having lost another.
Last Monday, Prince Harry was sentenced to pay 48,447 pounds (60,780 dollars) to the publisher of the Mail on Sunday newspaper after losing one of the cases in a defamation process against the tabloid.
The prince has vowed to make reform of the British media his life’s mission.
In this sense, he has started a legal battle against several sensationalist media, which he blames for the death of his mother Diana in 1997, in a car accident in Paris, when she was being chased by paparazzi.
Enrique also accuses the tabloids of treating his wife Meghan Markle in the same way.
FUENTE: AFP
