Trinity Mirror to face legal action over phone hacking, reports The Sunday Times
Trinity Mirror - the publisher of the Sunday Mirror and Daily Mirror, Daily Record, Sunday Mail and People - is facing legal action over allegations that it hacked the phones of celebrities and other high-profile figures, according to a report in the Sunday Times yesterday.
The News International broadsheet reports that Mark Lewis, the lawyer who represents dozens of claimants suing the News of the World, has confirmed that legal actions against Trinity Mirror are also being prepared. The Sunday Times quotes Lewis as saying: “There are about three or four cases which will start within the next few weeks.”
The broadsheet claims: “Legal action could force Trinity Mirror to disclose documents relating to stories about prominent people who suspect their phones were hacked. Trinity Mirror is already conducting an internal inquiry after allegations from former reporters that hacking was used to target celebrities and their publicists at both the Sunday Mirror and Daily Mirror.
“Any legal action is likely to increase pressure on Piers Morgan, who was editor of the Mirror from 1995 to 2004 and is now an interviewer on CNN.
“Morgan has strongly denied that he published any stories based on information from hacked phones, but he has been confronted with previous interviews and articles that suggest he was aware of the practice.”
The Sunday Times said that it was confirmed at the weekend that the police inquiry into phone hacking has been widened to investigate concerns that some public figures may have been targeted with “Trojan” software to monitor their computers.
“Jonathan Rees, a private investigator, is likely to feature in the inquiry. The News of the World was one of his main clients but he also worked for the Sunday and Daily Mirror.
“The number of civil cases against News International, owner of the now closed News of the World, The Times and The Sunday Times, is expected to increase sharply as more people are told by police that their telephone numbers have been found on documents compiled by Glenn Mulcaire, another private investigator.
“The High Court has ruled that Mulcaire should disclose which journalists ordered him to hack phones. He is appealing and may claim the ruling breaches his human rights because any prosecution or trial that arose indirectly from the disclosures would be unfair.”
Trinity Mirror has already confirmed that it has begun its own internal investigation into the practice.