It’s fun and interesting to read through the coverage of Prince Harry’s incredible legal victory. There was a rush to call it a “partial victory,” but from where I’m sitting, the victory is substantial. A judge ruled in Harry’s favor, confirming that Harry was illegally hacked by the Mirror when he was young. While Harry only needed to “prove” one incident of hacking to win, Judge Fancourt found 15 instances (out of 33) where hacking was used in reporting about Harry. Judge Fancourt went even further than that, saying that the Mirror carried out “very extensive and habitual unlawful information gathering,” including widespread hacking which was used “very substantially.” The Mirror’s criminal behavior was “an integral part of the system.” Not only that, but Judge Fancourt name-checked Piers Morgan AND said that Omid Scobie was a credible witness.
In a significant part of the judgment, Mr Justice Fancourt lists times when Piers Morgan was said to have been aware of phone hacking.
Referring to evidence given by royal author Omid Scobie, he said that he found the evidence of Morgan’s involvement to be credible and it had not been countered by the Mirror Group.
Scobie, who has been at the centre of recent controversy around the naming of the ‘racist’ royals, had recalled an incident when he was a student intern at the newspaper group, working on its “3am Girls” entertainment desk.
In 2002, he told the court he had witnessed Morgan, the then-editor of the Mirror, discuss an article about Kylie Minogue and that he had asked how confident the journalist was about the story. He had been informed by the journalist that the source had been a voicemail, Scobie claimed.
Mr Justice Fancourt said that recollection was supported by evidence of an invoice from a private investigator related to obtaining Minogue’s mobile phone number and that of her then partner, James Gooding.
Let’s underline this point – Harry’s lawyers argued that Piers Morgan, then the editor of the Mirror, knew about the extensive use of phone hacking. Omid Scobie testified that Piers openly discussed hacking Kylie Minogue’s voicemails. And Judge Fancourt said that Harry proved that part of the case, that Piers knew and that Scobie’s testimony was credible. Meanwhile, Piers refused to testify, preferring to lie his ass off in print, claiming that he had no idea any of this was happening and Harry is the liar. Harry has every right to call on the Met Police to investigate this criminal behavior and I hope they do.
It’s going to be bad for Piers Morgan in the coming months. Here he is lying about having no knowledge of phone hackings.
A judge just found that he knew of these illegal phone hackings at the time of making this statement. pic.twitter.com/uYEXmF0o5U
— D (@dilemmv) December 15, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Piers’ social media.
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- Piers Morgan outside ITV Studios,Image: 423997492, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no
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- Piers Morgan outside ITV Studios,Image: 429780132, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no
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- Piers Morgan outside ITV Studios,Image: 435160439, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no
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- Piers Morgan arrives at BBC Broadcasting House, London, England, UK on Sunday 24 April, 2022 to be a guest on the Sunday Morning show.,Image: 685650066, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
Yes it was known that Piss was involved. I don’t think anything will be done about him because there are so many others involved and in high places do I don’t think he will be held accountable. The corruption has many tentacles in many places.
I remember Sienna Miller back in the day saying that “Piers had gotten away with it” because she too was one of affected people whose phone was hacked if I remember correctly, and was so mad he was not held responsible. I honestly think a lot of UK celebrities are probably quietly supporting or cheering on Harry for getting this far.
Well, if the UK justice system really is “the envy of the world”, they will jump all over this and render some justice. We will see.
Morgan’s ego is what got him caught. That along with his relentless racist, misogynistic grudge against Duchess Meghan and him not getting a wedding invitation. I hope that he truly gets what he deserves and is punished for his crimes.
It would truly be so unbelievably satisfying wouldn’t it? I would just love it and like to imagine harry and meghan sitting around a fire cackling at piers Morgan downfall over champagne. Muuuhahahahaha
This really is immensely satisfying. It could not be more obvious what PM had to gain by discrediting Omid, AND deflecting attention by releasing the royal racists’ names.
“The Mirror group did not dispute ” that Piers was involved. Did I just hear the sound of bus wheels?
So for Piss Morgan and the others who lied under oath, isn’t this contempt of court? Could the judge just order them jailed now? Or have I watched too many American courtroom dramas?
I want these people punished!!! 😒
Yes, the judge agreed they committed crimes. However, this was a civil case. The prosecution / police needs to do their jobs and start an investigation. Harry said the same, asked them to do their jobs now.
The perjury legislation applies to all courts and tribunals. Any hearing which takes evidence on oath is covered by the Perjury Act. Piers Morgan lied to the Leveson Inquiry. He can and should face criminal charges.
Agreed however this is a civil case where the burden of proof is lower and on the balance of probabilities.
So I am guessing that the Police would need to find a literal smoking gun to place Piers Morgan at the epicenter of the hacking i.e. and not just knowing of its existence and / or listening to voicemails as he has previously admitted to doing i.e. it would need to be evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, which 15-20+ years down the line would be nigh on impossible.
Personally, I do not see him facing criminal charges as he’d likely take down some establishment stoodges down with him, including courtiers and even members of the Royal Family.
Instead what I suspect will happen is that;
1. Byline will release all the evidence they have been gathering on the downlow (many of the Byline crew are ex-Hackers turned against the industry that chewed them up and spat them out )
2. PM is going to have a little break away from our screens i.e. contract not renewed etc
3. He’ll be cautioned heavily about speaking about H&M and what he can/ cannot say and that might even be written into his future contracts
But I don’t see him facing any sort of criminal consequences unfortunately.
BUT…. What I do think is a possibility is that they might find that the hacking never really stopped and that it has been ongoing as recently as when Harry and Meghan met. I say that because this case established that the hacking was ongoing during Levenson and also there have been hints recently that the press have accessed BRF medical records and the very convenient way in which Piers Morgan started following and targeting Meghan on social media (Instagram in particular) just as she started dating Harry and then all of a sudden Camilla Too-Man-Gins then got the scoop. I have always thought that association was odd and just to convenient.
I think they’ve continued hacking them well into 2017 and the attempt to then record Meghan speaking to/ communicating with her father (the fake sounding texts M&H were suspicious of) just before the wedding was another example of that well into 2018.
If evidence of that hacking or interference came to light then yes a conviction would be easier to secure.
Flower, wasn’t there an American PI that has already gone on record that he was hired by the bm and got Meghan’ phone number, social security number, friends, you name it? How do you think they found her Dad, half-Sister/brother? Didn’t a bm person move in next door to him? Yeah, there’s a lot that could come to light especially his interview and what he said. I suspect most of that came from the people in the bm coaching him. He’s such a loser for going along with it.
Okay that’s interesting @flower. Early on, PM claimed to be a huge fan of suits and started communicating with her through insta. Ostensibly as a fan. But when did his fandom start? During season 1 or after he knew, but before the whole world, that Harry was dating Meghan? Feel like that info could be tracked down.
The judge said they were still hacking phones during the levinson inquiry?? This is crazy, the British media is acting like mafia with impunity.
So in retaliation, Piers calls out the RRs in order upend Omid’s book.
That’s what I’m wondering, ThatsNotOkay. And possibly the RF for not protecting him like he assumed that they would have.
That’s what I thought, it was an attempt by Piers and his friends in the Unroyal mafia to take down Omid. Well it didn’t work, Omid’s book is a best seller and Piers has egg on his face, along with Chuck and Keen. Touche!
It certainly puts his naming them in context. I’m reminded of his creepy selfie outside the gates of Kensington Palace right after the Oprah interview.
Incidentally, I’d be fascinated to read a memoir from Omid about his experiences coming up in UK media circles.
Omid’s Endgame covers a good part of your last sentence/query.
Yep leaking the names into the Dutch edition was straight out of the NewsCorp playbook and retaliation against Omid for speaking out as a witness.
PM has firmly been a Murdoch henchman for 30+ years, so it’s easy to see now where the interference could have come from to distract us from todays judgement, which they knew was coming out.
If I am honest PM is not the Apex of hate we are led to believe. Rather he is the populist entertainer cum columnist who is there to feed the masses and in particular the FAIL and GB news type consumers the hate that the oligarchs and establishment need them to believe to keep screwing over the great unwashed.
Anyway all the dirty hands are washing each other but the mud is still sticking and the Royal Family have suffered some serious flesh wounds recently which likely is what Paul Dacre was alluding to in his threatening letter to Charles this week.
The ‘mystique’ is definitely gone and Charles is looking weak and exposed by allowing all this squabbling on his watch. William will literally be the death of him unless he puts his foot down and orders some sort of civility with Harry.
Charles needs to call some sort of truce or rules of engagement ASAP.
@Flower, I do not see that happening at all. Chuck has no control over Willy, none at all. And Willileaks is way too ‘incandescent with rage,’ and past coming to his senses, if he ever had any common sense or kindness or logical perspective to begin with!
Inclined to agree. I’ve long felt W is totally out of control.
It would take the British Prime Minister to step in and deal with W. Perhaps it’s been tried and W has threatened to walk. That would finish them, with H exiled W stropping off would make the situation unsurvivable for the RF.
Charles’s only option, I’d say, is outflank W and get H back to be seen on the royal estates somewhere arm in arm with Charles Camilla and Anne. Send an unmistakeable message to the UK media that there now needs to be a reset
What a mess.
Chuck and Willy were both groomed from birth to be malignant narcissists. Keep your expectations for what they will do realistic. Always assume they will do what a malignant narcissist with unlimited power & status would do and you will never be surprised.
#AbolishTheMonarchu
It’s is about time PM face some accountability, he has a long list of evil acts. I really hope a criminal investigation comes out of this.
I absolutely love seeing people get exactly what they deserve, it truly warms my cold, dark heart!
So would the MET police then have grounds to charge him with perjury, for lying during levenson? And could he now also be charged with phone hacking? I’m just not sure what could be charged. Assuming the met police would even have the cojones.
Nothing would make me happier than to see PM be held accountable. He has been obsessed with Meghan for YEARS and he’s buddy buddy with QCamilla. He’s so gross.
So he essentially perjured himself during Levenson.
Will be interesting to see how that affects his Insurance renewal for his current TV shows, which could effectively make him unemployable until this is resolved…..
Jeremy Paxman testified at the Levenson hearing that Piers Morgan told him how to the Mirror hacked people’s phone so Piers was always lying.
That makes the perjury that much worse or in legal terms ‘malicious’.
Does this mean anything to piers? Will he still get American Gigs?. Is he going to invite Sharon on his show to bad mouth Harry
PM will do anything. Smarmy, boot licker of a man.
Hmmmm. I wonder why the comments are turned off on the article about Harry’s victory on the Daily Fail.
This is an early Christmas present. Piers Morgan is such a disgusting reptile, and a disgrace to journalism.
I image BP and KP are figuring out how to distance themselves from Piers along his bosses, especially if a criminal investigation comes about. See Dan Wooton.
Any association between BP, KP and Piers Morgan from this point would be a stone in their vast gardens.
Which effectively means that PM is now persona non grata to them.
How delicious that Meghan will no longer be a guaranteed cash cow for him. Of course he will still b!tch about H&M but he has now lost all his legitimacy.
Of course, Piers was absolutely aware. Everybody was absolutely aware.
Vile man. It’s long been known that his mad rage about Meghan wasn’t because he was protective of the BRF; it was because he took the long view and was desperate to discredit her and her husband as the trial got closer. Such a transparent person.
YES, YES, YES now let’s see the met police do it right for a change and charge the slug with perjury, because if they dont, then they are as corrupt as Morgan. I’m hopeing that Morgan now loses his television show in the UK, and the muckey murdoch family, cancel him in the US. He will try and spin this but I will be waiting, because where he is concerned I have a long memory, from millie Dowler to today, he needs to answer for his crimes. He has a phone in on his programme occasionally, and I’m going to be sat with my phone in hand ready for the gobshite. Hey piss Morgan, had any calls from Camilla recently?
Oh my god Morgan has just given a rabid press conference saying, “he has never hacked a phone, and that the only mission Harry is on is to destroy the Royal family. I’m afraid Morgan is going to be in very big trouble now, GOOD
Perhaps that is technically true – HE didn’t hack the phone – he just paid others to do that
I think fear has overtaken Piers. He has been civilly found to be involved in criminal activity & expects the BRF to bail him out if this becomes a criminal case.
Piers sound very desperate. He does not know enough to keep quiet.
@Mary Pester wouldn’t that be great. I hope karma comes for him big time!
The RF must rue the day they entered into a relationship with this disgusting man.
They are all skating on thin ice now. Piss Morgan looked shaky whilst reading out his diatribe. The only thing he could cling on to was saying that Harry is trying to bring down the RF, which is a coded message to the RF which says if I go down you will go down with me.
The RF have been reduced to having this liar as their chief supporter.
Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles attended Piers’ holiday party last night so Camilla rues nothing….
And Tom PB is invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham. Nothing changes.
Does this mean that Piers can be personally sued by the victims?
CB Legal Eagles, please say yes!
Mmm HE may not have physically done the hacking, but as the Editor, the buck stops with HIM because he ran the stories and paid invoices!! Karma is Harry shaped for mr Morgan
Didn’t Moron openly boast in The Insider of listening to Paul Mc sing We can work it out down the phone to Heather Mills? Mills gave evidence at Leveson that she would never have allowed Moron to listen to her private voice mails as he conducted a hate campaign against her when he was at The Mirror.
Honestly, big whoop. Nothing will happen to him. He’ll just keep his head down for a few months and then it will be back to business.
Thank you epic holiday giving vibes! This is a great 🎁. 🎉
Yeah he was aware. I thought it was common knowledge. Didn’t he claim he didn’t know how far it had gone? It’s assumed he blackmailed someone to not be punished. Like if you hang me out to dry you are coming with me. Anyway he went away for a tiny while. While retired he complained about money, being STALKED at his pub, and something else i cant think of at the moment. Although I thought he never stopped working in publishing. Then It’s assumed he blackmailed someone to get a chance at a show.
This is why I was surprised Camilla deals with him. He is going to get her eventually. Maybe he might wait until she is dead. I don’t think he is a royalist.
Here’s hoping Piers severely loses his shit.
There will be more revelations next year in the case against the Mail. The corruption involves the press and the police.
I hope Harry sues Piers Morgan for defamation following the statement Morgan made yesterday.
Piers Morgan has long wanted to be recognized and acknowledged by Harry and Meghan in public. Here you go, Piers. Publicly you are now acknowledged and recognized for your criminal act. Be careful what you wish…
And guess who showed up at Piers’ holiday bash last night? Cruella’s son Tom Parker Bowles looking his usual loathsome worst. Queen Sidechick can’t show up herself so her spawn shows up on her behalf. And will the derangers criticize Tom for showing up at Piers’ party—the man who leaked the names of his stepfather and his stepbrother’s wife as the royal racists? I doubt it.
think this proves that Camilla encouraged Piers to release the names.
Well well well….the plot thickens. I’m sure Tom PB is his mother’s go-between, she’s an evil old harpy isn’t she. This is the beginning of the end for old Piss Moron methinks – every time you pull a thread in this mess, more and more gets unraveled, and more victims feel safe coming forward with their stories.
I wonder if it was a case of TPB having to go to Morgan’s do, Morgan could dish a lot of dirt?
P*ss Morgan defense.
I know nothing about phone hacking.
Court: Oh yes you did.
PM: Well, if I did, it wasn’t unlawful.
Court: Uhmm, we think otherwise.
PM: Well, I may have listened to voice mails hacked by other people, that’s not my fault. I’m innocent I sayeth. I’m just a little o editor. It doesn’t matter that there is video of me showing someone how to hack a phone. I didn’t do it myself. I only had complete confidence how it worked without testing it out myself.lol. The jokes write themselves.
So Harry was proven correct in a court of law and Omid Scobie was declared a “credible witness” by a judge in a court of law. This is the same court that Charles just said was the envy of the world. So, this envious judicial system declaring Harry correct and Omid Scobie credible is wrong in this instant because Piers Morgan won’t testify and we should trust his incoherent ranting instead of a court if law that, according to the King the world envies. Okay!