The U.K.’s Mirror Group Newspapers has been ordered to pay around $180,000 (£140,600) in damages to Prince Harry by Britain’s High Court for hacking his cell phone multiple times, handing the royal a major legal victory in his long-running battle with the country’s tabloid press.
According to the BBC, the judge overseeing the case found that Harry’s device was targeted several times between 2003 and 2009.
The judge found at least 15 articles published by the outlet were based on information derived from the hacking incidents or “other unlawful information gathering.”
The judge noted that Harry’s phone was only “hacked to a modest extent” and the process was “carefully controlled,” but added that it caused the British Royal “distress.”
Former Mirror CEO Sly Bailey was aware of the “extensive” hacking taking place at the newspaper group and he “turned a blind eye” to the problem, the judge said.Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne told journalists that the court found the Mirror group’s leadership, including former editor Piers Morgan, “clearly knew about or were involved in these illegal activities.”Reacting to the ruling, Sherborne said: “Today is a great day for truth as well as accountability. The court has ruled that unlawful and criminal activity was carried out at all three Mirror group newspaper titles…on a habitual and widespread basis for more than a decade.” He added that Harry “respectfully calls on authorities, the financial regulator, stock markets… and the Metropolitan Police and prosecuting authorities to do their duty for the British public and investigate bringing charges against the company and those who broke the law.”
