Hugh Grant wins bid to take Sun publisher to trial for illegal snooping

On Friday, a London court rejected an attempt by The Sun's UK publisher to throw out a lawsuit filed by British actor Hugh Grant, alleging that journalists andhired investigatorsworking for News Group Newspapers (NGN) illegally snooped on him.

Justice Timothy Fancourt stated that a trial will be able to determine whether Rupert Murdoch's tabloid carried out unlawful information gathering or not. It includes tapping the actor’s home phone, bugging his car and breaking into his home. He ruled that the Hollywood star's claim could proceed to trial, except for claims relating to phone hacking.

Meanwhile, NGN has denied all the allegations.

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"It was only on seeing invoices disclosed in NGN's generic disclosure in 2021 that Mr Grant believed that private investigators had been instructed by The Sun to target him in various ways, particularly in 2011," said the judge.

The trial isdue to take place in January 2024. If found true, these allegations would establish very serious, deliberate wrongdoing at NGN, conducted on "an institutional basis on a huge scale".

In a statement released by his lawyers, Grant said,"I am pleased that my case will be allowed to go to trial, which is what I have always wanted -- because it is necessary that the truth comes out about the activities of The Sun."

"As my case makes clear, the allegations go far wider and deeper than voicemail interception."

During a hearing last month, the tabloid argued that claims of unlawful information gathering by Grant and the Duke of SussexPrince Harry should be thrown out because they weren’t brought within a six-year time limit.

The ruling didn’t address the Duke of Sussex’s case because the judge wants to hear more at a hearing in July about Harry’s allegations that he was prevented from bringing his phone hacking claims much sooner because of a “secret agreement” between Buckingham Palace and News Group executives.

The judge dismissed Grant’s phone hacking claims on time limitation grounds, saying the actor, who has played a key role in the Hacked Off press reform group, was well aware of the voicemail interception scandal and could have brought such a claim much sooner.

Grant previously settled a phone-hacking case with News Group’s former publication News of the World. That paper was closed in 2011 at the height of the hacking scandal after it was revealed that the tabloid had intercepted voicemails of a murdered girl, in addition to those of celebrities, athletes, politicians and members of the royal family.

(With inputs from agencies)

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