• Met police request case transcripts
  • Settlement reached with substantial damages
  • Calls for new investigation intensify

In a significant development, the Metropolitan Police have formally requested transcripts from the pre-trial hearings in Prince Harry's phone-hacking case against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN). This action has reinvigorated hopes among campaigners for a new investigation into allegations of "perjury and cover-ups" against NGN, which owns The Sun. The case was settled just minutes before the trial was set to commence, with NGN offering substantial damages and an apology to Prince Harry and Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labour Party.

Settlement and acknowledgment

The settlement marked the first time NGN acknowledged "incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the Sun." However, the company continues to deny any phone hacking occurred at 'The Sun' or that its journalists were involved in criminal activities. Rebekah Brooks, who edited 'The Sun' between 2003 and 2009, now serves as the chief executive at NGN. The claimants' barrister, David Sherborne, highlighted that the disclosures made by NGN during the five-year legal battle could justify a fresh police investigation into alleged "perjury and cover-ups."

Calls for new investigation

Tom Watson, who plans to submit a dossier of evidence to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, is supported by sources close to Harry and Watson, who claim the evidence against NGN executives is "almost incontrovertible." Despite NGN's strong denial of these allegations, the Met has been actively monitoring the civil case and awaits any correspondence from involved parties. The force has made it clear that there are currently no active investigations into phone hacking or related matters.

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Historical context and allegations

The controversy dates back to allegations from 2011, when detectives investigated claims of mass email deletions by executives at Murdoch's UK newspaper business. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and actor Hugh Grant have both called for renewed police action. Chris Huhne, a former cabinet minister who settled a phone-hacking case with NGN in 2023, has also urged the Met to investigate further, questioning whether NGN was "ignorant, incompetent, or lying" during the Leveson Inquiry. NGN has consistently denied allegations of evidence destruction and maintains that such claims would have faced significant challenges in court.