The British actor is suing News Group Newspaper (NGN) – the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World – over allegations of unlawful information gathering.
The Sun newspaper used “burglaries to order” and “breaking and entering” to obtain private information through “bugging, landline tapping and phone hacking”, Hugh Grant has claimed in court.
The 62-year-old actor made the allegations in a witness statement read out as part of his lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN) – the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World.
The British star attended the final day of a hearing at London’s High Court where NGN is bringing a bid to have claims by him and Prince Harry thrown out.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, is suing NGN over alleged unlawful information gathering at the two titles.
Grant settled a claim against NGN relating to unlawful information gathering at the News Of The World in 2012 and is now bringing a similar legal action in relation to The Sun.
NGN closed the News Of The World in 2011 in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal – but has denied any unlawful activity took place at The Sun.
In a witness statement, the Love Actually star said: “My claim concerns unlawful acts committed by The Sun, including burglaries to order, the breaking and entering of private property in order to obtain private information through bugging, landline tapping, phone hacking, and the use of private investigators to do all these and other illegal things against me.”
He referred in the statement to evidence he gave at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards and ethics in 2011, in which he spoke about a break-in at his London flat.
Grant claimed the front door was forced off its hinges and a story appeared shortly afterwards in The Sun that “detailed the interior”.
He said: “I had no evidence that this burglary was carried out or commissioned on the instruction of the press, let alone The Sun.”