Private investigator ‘did unlawful stuff’ related to Duke of Sussex, court told
Dan Portley-Hanks said the Mail On Sunday and Daily Mail became his ‘best client and the biggest payer’.
An American private investigator has told the High Court that he “did unlawful stuff” in relation to the Duke of Sussex for the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, but “cannot recall what exactly”.
Dan Portley-Hanks, who is also known as “Detective Danno”, was giving evidence on Tuesday in the trial of several high-profile figures’ legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
The group, which includes Harry, Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, allege that they were the subjects of unlawful information gathering.
The publisher strongly denies wrongdoing and is defending the claims, and has said that the claimants have been unable to “evidence these so-called confessions” by private investigators, including Mr Hanks, concerning unlawful activity.
In a witness statement, Mr Hanks, 79, said he began working for ANL titles from the early 1990s until the early 2010s, and said: “I recall that I did stuff for the Mail On Sunday and Daily Mail in relation to Prince Harry.”
He continued: “I know that I did unlawful stuff on him, but I cannot recall what exactly.”
Mr Hanks said he became a private investigator following his release from jail in 1979 and an “independent supplier of data to British tabloid reporters” from around 1993.
He continued that he began getting “a lot of work” from two Mail On Sunday journalists, Caroline Graham and Sharon Churcher.
He added that the papers became his “best client and the biggest payer” and Ms Graham and Ms Churcher “frequently” asked him to find phone numbers of people they wished to trace.
He said: “All I needed was a name or a phone number, and I could find a target’s contact and other private details, usually within minutes.”
Mr Hanks also said he was asked by Ms Churcher to send money to a former police officer, which was then used to pay a serving police officer for access to confidential files in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Hanks then said he was asked to trace one of the paedophile financier’s victims, who he discovered was called “Virginia”.
He said: “I got the details of the aunt, and the Mail On Sunday contacted the aunt, inviting her to get in touch, which she did.
“The Mail On Sunday were willing to spend as much money to identify her and track her down.”
Mr Hanks also said he recalled doing “stuff” in relation to Sir Elton, which was “getting contact information for him and his boyfriend or significant other”.
He continued that he did “something” involving Liz Hurley, but “cannot recall what it was”.
Responding to the claims, Antony White KC, for ANL, said in written submissions that the publisher “strongly denies” that the Duke of Sussex was the subject of unlawful information gathering.
The barrister continued that Mr Hanks’ claim that he “came forward to help” the claimants in 2021 by providing information about “the types of work I did for the Daily Mail and the Mail On Sunday” contradicted evidence given by the Duke of Sussex that he became aware of a “confession” allegedly made by Mr Hanks in 2020.
Mr White also said there was an “inability on the part of the claimants to evidence these so-called confessions” by Mr Hanks.
He said: “What has emerged, and continues to emerge, through the drip feed of the claimants’ disclosure and Associated’s own investigations is a clear picture of purported evidence being obtained through financial inducements and threats.”
He also said that “no specific incidents” of commissioning private investigators were alleged in relation to Ms Graham.
Addressing Mr Hanks’ claim that “corrupt payments” were made to a police officer, Mr White said that the documents were sourced by Ms Churcher from “exhibits placed on the public record” in civil proceedings involving Epstein.
He also said the incident “provides no evidence of propensity to commission or use the product of unlawful information gathering”.
He said: “No document has been produced capable of supporting the allegation of corruption.
“Mr Hanks’ evidence is lacking in any of the specificity which should be expected to support such serious allegations.”
Mr White labelled claims made by Hurley related to unlawful information gathering as “entirely baseless”, and those made by Sir Elton as “groundless”, describing both figures’ claims as “unsupported by the evidence before the court”.
The trial before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude in March, with a judgment in writing at a later date.
