The 8 week trial in the case of Duke of Sussex and Lord Watson v News Group Newspapers was due to commence before Mr Justice Fancourt in Rolls Building, Court 30 today. There was, however, a delay and the trial did not begin.
Over the last fifteen years more than 1300 claims have been settled by News Group Newspapers. The publisher has been desperate to avoid facing allegations of illegality, phone hacking and of an executive-level cover up in court.
Their strategy has been to make large settlement offers, which claimants must either accept or face the risk of enormous costs – even if they win.
To date, the claimants in this case – Lord Watson and Prince Harry – are believed to have rejected any offers they may have received. And this morning, their lawyers were expected to begin presenting their arguments to the court.
Yet when the claimants’ lawyer David Sherbourne addressed the Judge at 10.30am, instead of beginning his opening statements as expected, he sought and was granted an adjournment of one hour.
This request was followed by a second request for extension at 11.30am. Again, this was granted by Mr Justice Fancourt, who said “This is the last adjournment I will grant” and making it clear he was concerned about timings.
When the court returned after lunch, and proceedings were due to re-commence, the lawyers on both sides sought and were united asking leave to appeal for an adjournment until Wednesday, promising the judge that the parties were close to agreement on a settlement, and that the request had “not been made lightly.”
The eleventh hour request from News Group to pursue a late settlement is hardly surprising – for many years News Group have done everything in their power to avoid a trial from taking place, and have spent over a billion pounds settling other claims.
But the judge had heard enough. He rejected their calls for further delay, and gave them ten minutes to come back and begin opening submissions.
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, cited a ‘very substantial sum’ – pleading with the judge for one more night to thrash out a settlement and said if Mr Justice Fancourt refused the extension they would submit an appeal to the Court of Appeal. Yet the judge was unmoved and, visibly angered, rejected the application for an overnight delay.
In response the lawyers on both sides, unusually in complete agreement, turned to the Court of Appeal where they made their case for a delay. The outcome of their appeal is barely relevant: the time it will take to lodge and consider will force an overnight delay in any case.
As for what to expect tomorrow, the lawyers indicated they are close to agreement over a settlement. If that’s true, the question is about what any settlement would entail.
Anything that includes an admission of liability regarding illegality at The Sun – or of a cover up at News Group – would be humiliating for the publisher, which has spent years and millions of pounds denying such allegations.
We expect to learn more tomorrow morning, and we will be sharing updates from 10am on our social media channels.
A source close to the case told Hacked Off: ‘One of the positives in this drama is that Lord Tom Watson is a very seasoned and even-handed operator. He’s using his skills as former trade union negotiator and they are being deployed to good use in a bid to get an outcome that is beneficial to both parties.’’
This post originally appeared on the Hacked Off website and is reproduced with permission and thanks
I note,”Anything that includes an admission of liability regarding illegality at The Sun – or of a cover up at News Group – would be humiliating for the publisher,”.
As a layman, this leaves me with the thought that those with deep pockets can settle and get away with illegal activities that give the public a false picture of reality. Shades of today’s Unusual Specific Activities that trump justice and convictions.