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Stephen Wright, a former investigative reporter for the Daily Mail, has strongly rejected accusations that he paid private investigators to obtain information related to the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Wright described these allegations in the High Court as “the most despicable allegations it is possible to put to any journalist” and insisted they were “utter nonsense.” His testimony was part of a privacy lawsuit brought by Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Stephen Lawrence’s mother, against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Baroness Lawrence alleges that Wright and ANL used unlawful tactics to gather details for five articles about her son’s racially motivated murder in 1993, based on evidence from several private detectives. She is one of several prominent individuals—including Prince Harry and Sir Elton John—filing suits against ANL over serious privacy violations, including claims of phone hacking spanning two decades. ANL has strongly denied these accusations. During the court proceedings, David Sherborne, representing Baroness Lawrence, questioned Wright about whether the newspaper’s coverage was influenced by a belief that the Lawrence family had financially profited from the case. Wright defended his work, stating, “I have worked tirelessly for 25 years to help the Lawrence family get justice for their son,” and added, “Mr Sherborne you should be ashamed of yourself … given what Mr and Mrs Lawrence went through I wouldn’t begrudge them any money.”
Stephen Lawrence was an 18-year-old who was fatally stabbed while waiting at a bus stop in Eltham, southeast London. The Metropolitan Police’s mishandling of the investigation, particularly their failure to properly pursue five main suspects, became infamous and led to the force being labelled “institutionally racist” following a landmark public inquiry in 1999. The Lawrence family was awarded £320,000 in compensation in 2000 for these police failings. In 2012, two men were convicted of Stephen’s murder, though the other suspects have not faced charges. The Daily Mail notably campaigned on the Lawrence family’s behalf, including publishing a widely recognized front-page article in 1997 that named the five principal suspects.
Baroness Lawrence has expressed a sense of betrayal, stating in a prior statement that she once believed the Daily Mail supported her son’s cause but now felt she had been “played for a fool.” She accuses the newspaper of secretly recording her private communications through unlawful methods carried out by private investigators. One of the investigators, Gavin Burrows, initially admitted in a witness statement to assisting with phone hacking and obtaining private details for the Daily Mail but later retracted this claim, alleging his signature on the statement was forged. Wright explained in court that he addressed the retracted allegations in his own statement because “for four years I’ve lived under a cloud of the most despicable allegations it’s possible to put to any journalist,” emphasizing, “Of course I had to respond to it. To deny it.”
Wright also denied claims that he met private investigator Jonathan Rees and corrupt police officers in local pubs to pay for information. He acknowledged having contact with John Ross, a former police officer dismissed for misconduct, whom he considered “a very good tipster” and took out to lunch occasionally, but he refuted any payments to serving officers. Additionally, he dismissed allegations that he paid someone to illegally obtain information from Lady Lawrence as “absolute nonsense.” The court questioned Wright about his frequent use of the private investigator firm Express Locate International (ELI) to conduct searches. Wright explained these requests were for legal searches involving the electoral roll and land registry, which were difficult to access internally. However, Sherborne presented emails indicating that the Daily Mail already had access to the electoral roll and phone directories for journalistic purposes. Sherborne argued that reporters used ELI because it specialized in illegal methods for obtaining ex-directory phone numbers and other personal data. The case is expected to continue throughout February
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