Witness says earlier statement in Prince Harry case was fake

Gavin Burrows, who was initially the key witness on the most serious allegations of illegal information gathering in the privacy case, said an August 2021 statement was "prepared by others without my knowledge."

The group, including Prince Harry, Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, has accused Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) of "serious breaches of privacy."

ANL has repeatedly denied these "appalling" and "absurd" allegations.

These claims include hiring private investigators to spy on homes, hack phones, and fraudulently gather medical and financial information.

In a statement made in August 2021, Mr. Burrows allegedly claimed to have hacked voicemails, tapped landlines, and obtained financial and medical information at the request of a Mail on Sunday journalist.

But on Tuesday, the court heard that in September of this year, Mr. Burrows had given a statement to ANL lawyers claiming the 2021 document was false and that he had not signed it.

"I do not recognise the earlier witness statement of August 16, 2021 and I believe that my signature on that document is a forgery. A lot of it is not written in my type of language," he said.

"Further, the contents of the statement are substantially untrue."

In the recent statement he also said he had not carried out work for the Mail On Sunday or the Daily Mail, apart from in one instance where he said he did a job related to Sir Richard Branson that "did not involve any illegal activity".

Mr Burrows previously retracted his 2021 witness statement in 2023.

The court is now hearing legal arguments about whether Mr Burrows will be called as a witness for the trial, scheduled to take place in January.

David Sherborne, the barrister representing the group, has made an application to call Mr Burrows' evidence as hearsay, while defence lawyer for ANL, Antony White KC, has asked the court to allow him to cross-examine Mr Burrows.

Mr Justice Nicklin said Mr Sherborne could have seven days to decide whether he wanted to apply for a witness summons to call Mr Burrows, and that if Mr Burrows gave evidence that was inconsistent with the evidence they had obtained, then he could apply to treat him as "hostile".

Another pre-trial hearing is expected to take place for the case before the end of 2025.