High Court dismisses all seven claims over alleged unlawful information gathering by ANL
The High Court has dismissed claims brought by seven high-profile individuals against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), ruling that the claimants failed to prove their allegations of unlawful information gathering.
In a judgment handed down on 7 July 2026, Mr Justice Nicklin rejected all claims brought by Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE, Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton John CH CBE, David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, and Sadie Frost Law against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline.
The case followed a 46-day trial held between January 19 and March 31, 2026. The claimants alleged misuse of private information and, in some instances, breach of confidence arising from alleged unlawful information gathering. They claimed ANL had obtained information through methods including the use of private investigators, “blagging” by deception, telephone hacking and corrupt payments before publishing articles based on that material. ANL denied all wrongdoing and also argued that the claims had been brought too late.
The court examined 57 separate articles and incidents during the proceedings. Mr Justice Nicklin assessed documentary evidence, witness testimony, missing records and other material before determining whether the claimants had established, on the balance of probabilities, that unlawful information gathering had taken place.
In his judgment, the judge emphasised that the burden of proof rested with the claimants. Although the civil standard of proof applied, he noted that the allegations involved serious claims of dishonesty and unlawful conduct. As a result, the evidence needed to be sufficiently convincing before the court could conclude that the allegations were proved.
The judgment also addressed the limits of drawing inferences from available evidence and considered the extent to which alleged patterns of behaviour could support the claims. After reviewing all of the evidence presented during the trial, the court concluded that none of the seven claimants had proved their case.
Accordingly, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed each of the claims against Associated Newspapers Limited. The judgment states that a further hearing has been scheduled for 29 and 30 July 2026 to consider consequential matters and resolve any remaining issues between the parties following the ruling.