A former Mail on Sunday editor has told the High Court that claims he knew a private investigator was providing information to his newspaper are “nonsense”.
Peter Wright, who worked as editor-in-chief of the paper between 1998 and 2012, was the latest witness to give evidence in the trial of claims brought against the publisher of the title, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
ANL has strongly denied wrongdoing and is defending the allegations of unlawful information-gathering made by a group of household names, including the Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
During cross-examination on Monday, David Sherborne, for the group, put to Mr Wright the claim that he knew private investigator Gavin Burrows “was providing information to the Mail on Sunday” via his colleague at the time Paul Henderson, who worked in various roles at the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail between 1989 and 2005. Mr Wright replied: “No, that’s nonsense.”
In response to other allegations that were put to him, Mr Wright told the barrister: “Some of this stuff is just incredible. No, you’re wrong.”
Among his lines of questioning, Mr Sherbourne asked Mr Wright about the news meetings held at the time of the alleged unlawful information-gathering. The lawyer pushed to know more details on how much the former Mail on Sunday editor knew about the stories that were being pitched and commissioned.
At one point, Mr Wright stated: “If your question is, ‘Did I know all the details of every phone call they made?’ The answer is no.”
However, he did tell the hearing: “The question I often asked in our news conferences is: ‘How did this come to our attention?’” He added that he would ask journalists about their sources if a story was contentious, and he would sometimes challenge a story if he believed it had inaccuracies.
When Mr Sherbourne put it to him that he “tried to play a hands-on editor”, Mr Wright replied: “Correct.”
Mr Sherbourne also pressed Mr Wright on his claim that he knew nothing about the use of private investigators in the UK until the end of 2003.
The lawyer put to the journalist that the Mail on Sunday was allegedly “spending hundreds of thousands on private investigators” between 1998 and the end of 2003. Mr Wright replied: “Well, that’s your figure – but no, I wasn’t aware.”
Mr Wright also argued that he had not seen the shared contacts list for the newsdesk until he began preparing for this trial. “I had no idea they had a contact list,” he told the court. “I mean, it’s conceivable they had one, but I never saw it, I never used it, I never discussed it.”
The trial before Mr Justice Nicklin is expected to conclude in March, and a judgment in writing is due at a later date.
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