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Paul Dacre, the former editor of the Daily Mail, appeared before the High Court to address allegations of unlawful newsgathering practices at the newspaper. He asserted that upon discovering any improper activities, he acted decisively to halt them. This testimony is part of an ongoing privacy lawsuit involving seven claimants, including Prince Harry and Sir Elton John, who accuse Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL)—the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday—of serious violations of privacy.
During his appearance on Wednesday, Dacre acknowledged that there might be evidence suggesting private investigators working for the newspaper employed unlawful methods. He faced questioning about his response to an investigation conducted by the Information Commissioner’s Office into Steve Whittamore, a private investigator who admitted to breaches of data protection laws in 2005. The inquiry revealed that ANL had utilized Whittamore’s services more extensively than any other newspaper group. Currently, Dacre holds the position of editor-in-chief at DMG Media Ltd, the parent company of ANL.
Dacre’s past involvement includes his defense of ANL’s practices at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards fourteen years ago, where he denied any evidence of phone hacking by the paper. In court this week, he denied having lied during that inquiry when questioned by the claimants’ lawyer, David Sherborne, particularly regarding stories that were alleged to have originated from hacked phones. Among the evidence presented were emails from 2006 between freelance journalist Greg Miskiw and Chris Anderson, then associate editor of the Mail on Sunday. These emails referenced voicemail transcripts related to a dispute involving actress Sadie Frost Law and her nanny, which were reportedly obtained by phone hacker Glenn Mulcaire, an associate of Miskiw. Although the story was ultimately not published, Miskiw received a payment of £500. Sherborne described this as “prima facie” evidence of phone hacking, but Dacre countered that it simply showed Miskiw was “desperately trying to get work out” of the paper. He suggested the payment might have been a “kill fee” to prevent another newspaper from running the story.
As editor at the time, Dacre admitted that the realization of potential unlawful conduct unfolded gradually, prompting him to instruct an executive to investigate. Despite difficulties in fully assessing the degree of Whittamore’s involvement with Daily Mail journalists, Dacre declared that he “brought the shutters down” and ended the use of private investigators in 2007 by banning his staff from engaging inquiry agents. He explained that much of his effort was dedicated to educating journalists and the industry on the importance of complying with the Data Protection Act. Dacre conceded that journalists had previously used private investigators to obtain unlisted telephone numbers for individuals the Daily Mail was covering—a practice he described as “very low on the Richter scale of unlawfulness” and potentially justifiable on public interest grounds. The use of such agents was partly to avoid the more time-consuming task of searching paper phone directories.
When questioned about claims that Daily Mail crime reporter Stephen Wright had engaged private investigators for stories related to the Stephen Lawrence murder case, Dacre rejected suggestions that unlawful methods were used. Despite handwritten payment requests totalling £1,500 for “special contacts,” he praised Wright’s reporting as “brilliant work” that contributed to bringing two of the Lawrence killers to justice.
In the cross-examination, Sherborne challenged Dacre on whether the ban on private investigators, introduced in April 2007, was actually respected by staff. He cited examples, including one where royal correspondent Rebecca English reportedly obtained the exact aircraft seat number of Chelsy Davy, then Prince Harry’s girlfriend. Dacre professed to be “totally unaware” of this and noted that airlines were more relaxed about sharing such information at the time. He distinguished between paying freelance journalists for information—which is common practice in journalism—and utilizing inquiry agents, stressing that as long as payments are not made to law enforcement, securing stories by such means is acceptable. “Every newspaper pays for stories,” Dacre stated. “They don’t do it willingly. But news does not grow on trees, you have to secure it.”
Throughout the trial, Mr Justice Nicklin has repeatedly criticized Sherborne for asking questions that extend beyond the legal issues at hand. On Tuesday, Sherborne was accused of attempting to turn the court proceedings into a public inquiry. By Wednesday, the judge imposed a time limit on Sherborne’s cross-examination of Dacre, who left the witness stand shortly after 3 p.m. GMT. The trial is scheduled to conclude in March, with the court expected to issue a written judgment at a later date
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