Hugh Grant takes part of his lawsuit against Murdoch paper to trial

British actor Hugh Grant, alongside Britain's Prince Harry, is suing Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers for widespread alleged unlawful information gathering that he says was committed on behalf of its tabloid, the Sun

Hugh Grant arrives at the Rolls Buildings in central London for the conclusion of News Group Newspapers (NGN) phone hacking hearing.

British actor Hugh Grant's claims that journalists at the Sun used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house can proceed to trial, but his voicemail interception allegations were made too late, London’s High Court ruled.

Mr Grant, alongside Britain's Prince Harry, is suing Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) for widespread alleged unlawful information gathering that he says was committed on behalf of its tabloid, the Sun.

Judge Timothy Fancourt said in a written ruling on Friday that Mr Grant's allegations of voicemail interception — widely known as "phone-hacking" — were outside a six-year time limit for legal action.

But the judge said the question of whether Mr Grant's allegations of "landline tapping, bugging, blagging, burglary and instructions to private investigators to do any of those things" were brought too late must be determined at a trial due to take place in January 2024.

An NGN spokesperson said the publisher was pleased that Mr Grant's phone-hacking claim against the Sun was thrown out by the court. "NGN strongly denies the various historical allegations of unlawful information-gathering contained in what remains of Mr Grant's claim," they added.

NGN had also asked the judge to throw out Harry's lawsuit at a hearing in April but a ruling in his case is not expected until after a further hearing in July, at which Harry will ask for permission to rely on an alleged "secret agreement" between Buckingham Palace and senior figures at NGN.

Mr Grant has become a prominent campaigner on press reform since the phone-hacking scandal emerged. He previously brought a lawsuit against NGN in relation to the now-defunct News of the World tabloid, which was settled in 2012.

His latest lawsuit alleged Sun reporters used private investigators to tap his landline phone, place listening and tracking devices on his house and car, burgle his property and obtain his private information by deception.

NGN denies the allegations and its lawyers argued at April's hearing that it was "unreal" for Mr Grant to have not known enough to bring a lawsuit in relation to the Sun earlier than he did.

Meanwhile, Fox News, a separate news brand controlled by the controversial media mogul Mr Murdoch, was embroiled in another scandal recently. Earlier this year, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5m (€233m) to settle a defamation lawsuit brought forward by voting machine maker Dominion over the network’s 2020 election broadcasts.

- Reuters