Missing private investigator evidence in Daily Mail’s case ‘stark’, high court told

Claimants say lost documents hide scale of alleged unlawful information gathering at publisher of the Daily Mail

The amount of lost or destroyed documents relating to the Daily Mail publisher’s use of private investigators is “stark in the extreme”, the high court has heard.

However, the thin surviving evidence of payments to private investigators contains “conspicuous and often shocking evidence”, according to lawyers for a group of claimants accusing the publisher of using unlawful techniques.

Prince Harry, Elton John and Doreen Lawrence are among the seven claimants in the 10-week, multimillion pound case against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL). The publisher denies all the claims.

In closing submissions, David Sherborne, the leading barrister for the claimants, said the court should conclude “the true scale” of unlawful information gathering at ANL “was enormous”.