Hugh Grant's legal battle against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) is going to court in a trial scheduled for January 2024. Grant's lawsuit alleges that NGN engaged in illegal information gathering, including phone tapping, car bugging and home break-ins.
In a recent development, a London judge dismissed Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers' attempt to toss out Grant's lawsuit based on the argument that the lawsuit had surpassed a six-year statute of limitations. Grant's phone hacking claims were originally dismissed, but information brought to Grant's attention by private investigator Gavin Burrows in 2021 will allow the case to move forward.
According to Burrows, in addition to his phones being hacked, reporters for The Sun had also broken into Grant's home and placed a tracking device in his car.
"If true, these allegations would establish very serious, deliberate wrongdoing at NGN, conducted on an institutional basis on a huge scale," Justice Timothy Fancourt said in his latest ruling. "They would also establish a concerted effort to conceal the wrongdoing by hiding and destroying relevant documentary evidence, repeated public denials, lies to regulators and authorities, and unwarranted threats to those who dared to make allegations or notify intended claims against The Sun."
NGN denies the allegations.
Grant has been speaking out against tabloid violations for years as a member of the board of non-profit organization Hacked Off, which advocates for press reform.
In a recent development, a London judge dismissed Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers' attempt to toss out Grant's lawsuit based on the argument that the lawsuit had surpassed a six-year statute of limitations. Grant's phone hacking claims were originally dismissed, but information brought to Grant's attention by private investigator Gavin Burrows in 2021 will allow the case to move forward.
According to Burrows, in addition to his phones being hacked, reporters for The Sun had also broken into Grant's home and placed a tracking device in his car.
"If true, these allegations would establish very serious, deliberate wrongdoing at NGN, conducted on an institutional basis on a huge scale," Justice Timothy Fancourt said in his latest ruling. "They would also establish a concerted effort to conceal the wrongdoing by hiding and destroying relevant documentary evidence, repeated public denials, lies to regulators and authorities, and unwarranted threats to those who dared to make allegations or notify intended claims against The Sun."
NGN denies the allegations.
Grant has been speaking out against tabloid violations for years as a member of the board of non-profit organization Hacked Off, which advocates for press reform.
