“The reputations of our decent, hard-working journalists have been severely attacked, but today they have been exonerated,” the publisher continued in a statement. “As the judgment clearly shows, all articles were legally sourced.”
And Associated Publishers thanked the judge for his ruling and “for the patience and wisdom he has shown throughout this ill-conceived case, which has wasted valuable court time and over £50 million in legal costs.”
Following the court’s decision, Prince Harry and fellow plaintiff Doreen Lawrence issued a lengthy statement expressing their disappointment in the ruling, claiming their views had not been treated in the same way as the Daily Mail’s defence.
“Plaintiffs presented evidence, Mail reporters simply denied it, and the court chose to believe it uncritically,” the statement reads in part. “We presented evidence to the court that we believed then and now to be compelling. I would like to thank the court team for their hard work and all the witnesses who bravely came forward to pursue justice.”
Eh! The News has reached out to John and Hurley’s representatives but has not yet received a response.
At the start of the trial in January, Harry said he had previously filed two lawsuits against other newspapers, winning one and settling the other. daily maildescribed the phone hacking allegations as a “horrifying experience”.
