Girls Aloud

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By Jemma Crew & Dominic Casciani, at High Court, & Sam HancockBBC News

Unlawful Information gathering was widespread and authorised by those at the highest levels of Mirror Group Newspapers, a court has heard.

Prince Harry is among high-profile people accusing the publisher of using private investigators and phone hacking to gain stories about them.

His barrister David Sherborne said millions of pounds were paid to private investigators, with the payments signed off by senior figures at MGN.

MGN denies the claims.

It is alleged that journalists from the Daily Mirror , Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers obtained private and confidential Information about people's lives through a variety of illegal means.

The bulk of The Trial 's evidence are 207 newspaper stories, published between 1991 and 2011 - Some 67% of which were written about Harry, The Duke of Sussex.

Mr Sherborne told The High Court one of The Most " serious and troubling" features of the case is the extent to which " widespread, habitual and unlawful" activities were " authorised at the highest level".

This included " the systemic and widespread use of PIs (private investigators) by MGN journalists to unlawfully obtain Private Information " of various individuals, Mr Sherborne told London's High Court.

The unlawful activities also included MGN journalists intercepting landline voicemails, even if The Phone numbers were ex-directory, He Said .

Claims brought by Harry and three others are being heard in The Trial , expected to last six to Seven Weeks , as being " representative" cases of the types of allegations facing the publisher.

The Other claimants are former Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Turner , known by his stage name Michael Le Vell, and comedian Paul Whitehouse 's ex-wife Fiona Wightman.

They are all expected to give evidence. When The Prince does so in June, he will become The First senior member of the Royal Family to appear In Court and be cross-examined in Modern Times .

The Four cases were chosen by The Trial judge to help The Court set The Level of damages MGN should pay if the claimants win, as well as establish the various allegations facing the publisher.

The Court would then consider other cases from celebrities including the former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, actor Ricky Tomlinson , former Arsenal and England footballer Ian Wright and The Estate of late singer-songwriter George Michael .

MGN has denied the allegations, including those of voicemail interception. However on Wednesday, the publisher for a separate instance of unlawful Information gathering against Harry, adding that the legal challenge brought by The Prince " warrants compensation".

A key focus in the lead-up to The Trial And One of the allegations in Harry's case has been whether Piers Morgan - Editor of the Daily Mirror from 1995 until 2004 - and other senior executives knew of any alleged illegal activity taking place.

In Thursday's hearing, Mr Sherbourne discussed a Daily Mirror Front Page story from 1999 - When Mr Morgan was Editor - which revealed confidential details about the finances of Prince Michael of Kent, including that he was in debt to a bank.

Prince Michael's lawyers later told MGN they had deduced that a " blagger" had called The Bank and, posing as The Royal 's accountant, obtained confidential Information .

MGN eventually settled The Claim , published an apology and paid his legal costs, the barrister said.

" It's inconceivable, given The Way this progressed, that the legal department and Mr Morgan were not well aware of The Source of The Story , and that it came from illegally obtained Information , " Mr Sherborne told The Court .

Mr Morgan has consistently denied any knowledge of phone hacking during his time editing the newspaper, but this will be the First Time a court has been asked to rule on claims about what he knew.

Speaking to The Bbc 's Amol Rajan before The Trial began, Mr Morgan he could only talk to what he knew about his own involvement, adding: " I've never hacked a phone, I wouldn't even know how. "

Mr Morgan also pointed out he only worked for the Daily Mirror and had no responsibility for the Sunday Mirror , Sunday People or other titles.

In 2015, MGN admitted journalists had regularly used unlawful techniques to obtain Private Information - and issued a public apology.

The High Court ordered the publisher to pay out damages totalling £1. 25m to eight phone-hacking victims, including More Than £260,000 to The Actor Sadie Frost .

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Source of news: bbc.com