Former Daily Mail editor tells hacking trial allegations are 'preposterous'

Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has told the High Court he "utterly refutes" the "preposterous" allegations of unlawful newsgathering at the paper.

Seven people, including Prince Harry and Sir Elton John, are suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) - publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday - for "grave breaches of privacy".

Dacre is the current editor-in-chief of DMG Media Ltd, the holding company of ANL, which denies all allegations of unlawful information gathering.

He told the court he was "angry and upset" for his staff at the newspapers as the allegations had "cast a dark shadow over their lives for the past three years".

On Tuesday Dacre was back in court, facing similar questions from the same barrister, David Sherborne, who is representing the seven claimants.

Dacre told the trial that he "wasn't aware" of the extent of the paper's use of private investigators - who he referred to as "inquiry agents" - until around 2007 when he "brought the shutters down".

Sherborne asked Dacre whether his involvement in the case "is motivated by a desire to protect your legacy" rather than getting a fair outcome. Dacre admitted wanting to clear his name, but also said he cared about the "honest and dedicated" staff at the paper.

Regarding allegations that hacking and tapping phones was "habitual and widespread" at the Daily Mail, Dacre said: "I utterly reject this. Such blatant illegality would not, I believe, have been countenanced at any level on the paper I edited."

He added that he is sure if he was told there was evidence a journalist or agent had blagged information, he would "have been pretty furious".

The "sometimes preposterous allegations" have "in the small hours of the night – reduced me to rage" he wrote in his witness statement, adding that they have had a "deeply upsetting and, in some instances, traumatic impact" on past and present Daily Mail staff.

Another of the claimants, Baroness Lawrence, is the mother of the murdered black schoolboy Stephen Lawrence. When Stephen was murdered, the Daily Mail campaigned on her behalf.

In her claim, Lawrence alleges that ANL targeted her with hidden electronic surveillance, tapped her phone and monitored her bank account.

Dacre told the court on Tuesday that "my heart bleeds for Doreen Lawrence"

In his statement he added Lawrence's claims in relation to the campaign "are especially bewildering and bitterly wounding to me personally."

At times, the atmosphere between Sherborne and Dacre was combative.

At one stage, Sherborne suggested "you choose to remember the things that might be helpful, and deliberately forget the things that might be unhelpful".

Right at the end of the day, Mr Justice Nicklin scolded Sherborne and said he was treating his questioning like a public inquiry. "I don't consider the large bulk of questions to have any real relevance to the issues I have to decide," he added.

Dacre will return to the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday to continue giving evidence.

The trial before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude in March. A written judgment is expected to be issued at a later date.