Originally published at: Prince Harry wins lawsuit; court finds then-editor Piers Morgan was involved in "extensive" hacking of celebrities' phones | Boing Boing
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Any chance he goes to prison? I think it’d be really nice if Piers went to prison.
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Are all lawsuit awards in Britain so low? I realize for Harry it was more about the principle than the award, but that likely wouldn’t even cover the cost of his lawyers.
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Once upon a time they would have chopped his head off. I’d hate to see a return to that practice though.
(looks at photo of Morgan)
Hmm.
I hope he appreciates just how lucky he is.
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Costs would be a separate decision but routinely you would be awarded costs as determined by the taxing master. My knowledge isn’t English but I am fairly sure it’s exactly the same.
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No, it’s a civil trial. He’s not even on the hook for the damages, the employer that fired him is.
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The inaccessibility of the English courts to normal people is a big problem. It’s one of the reasons libel is such a useful club there for the rich: fighting it is vastly expensive. You need tens of thousands of pounds just to mount a defense, and actually fighting a lawsuit will add a zero or two to that.
This case took years to organize and will have cost millions of pounds, all in the knowledge that even the most extreme victory (as has happened) would yield awards in the thousands. Costs are yet to be included, though.
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Now that the liability has been established, and lots of evidence gathered, can criminal charges be laid on Morgan? If so, and the Crown obtains a conviction, I’d say it was a worthwhile investment.
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I think the question is often posed with more disbelief in the opposite direction, TBH. But this does sound a little low, even allowing for the fact it won’t as yet include costs (assessed separately), but I have not yet heard what the judge actually had to say.
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Harry has “respectfully requested” the police take an interest now. He also sued for only a few instances of hacking in this lawsuit and apparently has more than a hundred more he might sue for. But Mirror Group makes hundreds of millions a year in profits, so it was always about getting the win, not the money.
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Although Rob points out that the police have been invited to take an interest, I am not holding my breath, given how many very rich/famous types successfully got damages from Murdoch and the NOTW for much the same behaviour, and nobody important went to prison throughout all of that (though I seem to recall a couple of minor players did suffer some small measures of judicial sentencing).
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Won’t they be investigating themselves? Didn’t the Mirror use paid off police for hacking?
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Ooh! I learned a new word today! I like learning new things. Piers Morgan being a jerk was not news to me, though. I wish this would leave him broke, but it’s better than nothing.
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Posting this, for no particular reason:
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