Sir Simon Hughes, the former Government minister, has sought to separate himself from the other claimants in the unsuccessful privacy lawsuit brought against the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers Limited.
During a costs hearing at the High Court, Sir Simon conveyed through his barrister that he had never intended to go after the publisher and was not waging a campaign against it.
The former justice minister was among seven high-profile figures alongside Prince Harry, Baroness Lawrence, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, who brought claims alleging journalists had unlawfully obtained information through hacking, bugging and blagging.
Every one of those claims was dismissed in its entirety earlier this month in what was described as a landmark ruling.
Associated Newspapers has stated that defending the four-year legal battle cost £34million, and the group of claimants now face a potentially enormous bill.
The publisher has pushed for costs to be assessed on an indemnity basis, arguing that the way the claims were presented at trial was “cavalier” and fell well “outside the norm,” with allegations either abandoned mid-trial or pressed forward despite scant supporting evidence.
Under indemnity costs, the court would not need to assess whether the publisher’s expenditure was proportionate.
The claimants called Associated’s costs “eye-watering,” noting they exceeded the pre-trial court-approved budget by £18.6million.
None of the seven claimants attended the two-day costs hearing in person.
However, Nicholas Bacon KC, representing the group, told the court he had been contacted by Sir Simon overnight with a message to relay.
“He wishes to make it clear he was not a campaigner against Associated,” the barrister said. “It was not part of his case or plan to target ANL, its people or its papers.”
Sir Simon also stressed through his counsel that he had never “publicly ally his case to the other claimants,” and that rather than being a celebrity, “he is not a celebrity and was at the time a responsible senior MP and minister of state.”
Associated Newspapers’ barrister Antony White KC responded firmly to Sir Simon’s intervention, pointing out that the former minister had levelled accusations “of widespread criminality of the most heinous form” against the publisher. “He has not withdrawn any of those allegations — not one,” Mr White told the court.
The judge remarked that there would “be time for reflection for Sir Simon Hughes to review how the case was conducted and the extent to which it doesn’t meet the objective he was looking for.”
Mr Justice Nicklin is expected to hand down his ruling on the costs dispute, including whether to apply the indemnity basis, from the week beginning August 17.
