Hugh Grant British police have been called on to open a new criminal investigation into the newspapers of Rupert Murdoch’s news group.
The actor joins the growing chorus of those who, in the wake of Prince Harry’s Historic Homestead With the company – which included admissions of guilt in the phone hacking of the Sun newspaper – there are now fresh calls for police action.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Grant – who himself settled with NGN in 2024 – said the job was not done “by any means”. prince harry case, saying that NGN had “gamed” the civil courts to silence the complainants and that a criminal investigation was needed.
“That’s what they’ve done consistently over the last 10 years,” he said. “They have spent £1 billion to make sure these things are never seen in court … and you don’t get proper judicial findings. I think they’re nervous that those findings will trigger a new criminal investigation. ,
Grant had accused the Sun newspaper of using private investigators to tap his phones and bug his home, but said he settled because he would face a multimillion-dollar bill even if he won. Could have fallen. NGN had denied the allegations, saying that the agreement had been reached “without admission of liability”.
For Grant, a new investigation was necessary because the people working at Sun at the time “were still in great power.”
“A lot of foot soldiers for those newspapers have now come to our side … to say this is terrible,” he said. “We have been punished, we have been jailed, we have paid fines, we have lost our jobs. But the people who ordered all this are still there.”
Former politician Tom Watson, who settled with the NGN, said his legal team was passing a dossier to the UK Metropolitan Police, but the force told the BBC there was no active investigation.
A spokesperson told the BBC, “We look forward to any correspondence from the parties involved, to which we will respond in due course.”
Earlier this week, Prince Harry and NGN reached a settlement valued at more than $10 million. The company also issued an apology, which marked the first time Sun admitted to criminal activity. However, in a follow-up statement, it said it was employing “private investigators, not journalists” at the newspaper.
In quotes sent to Diversity From NGN, Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley told LBC radio on Friday that “much of the material” in Prince Harry’s civil suit came from an investigation conducted a decade ago into phone hacking and illegal surveillance at Murdoch’s newspapers.
“There were a number of prosecutions, those investigations were closed, if they send us a bunch of material, we will reflect on that and make our decisions,” he said.
