SIX high-profile figures including Prince Harry and Sir Elton John are suing the publisher of the Daily Mail over alleged unlawful news gathering by its titles.
 
Lawyers acting for the group released a statement on Thursday which said they are bringing claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), which is also the publisher of the Mail Online and the Mail on Sunday.
 
The other claimants are actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost, David Furnish who is the husband of Sir Elton John, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence.

Among the alleged unlawful acts include the hiring of private investigators to secretly put listening devices inside cars and homes and the recording of private phone conversations, the statement released by the law firm Hamlins about the legal action against ANL said.
 
The statement also alleges payments were made to police “with corrupt links to private investigators” for sensitive information, bank accounts and financial information were accessed “through illicit means and manipulation,” and medical information was “obtained by deception.”
  
An ANL statement said: “We utterly and unambiguously refute these preposterous smears.”