A former newspaper executive accused of asking a private investigator to hack phones yesterday branded the allegations against him ‘a litany of lies’.
Paul Henderson, ex-investigations editor and news editor at The Mail on Sunday, told the High Court it was ‘grotesque’ to claim he commissioned Gavin Burrows to target Prince Harry and Sir Elton John among other celebrities.
He denied telling the private investigator (PI) to hack phones, track vehicles, place bugs or ‘blag’ information. Mr Burrows purportedly admitted carrying out unlawful information gathering for the Daily Mail and The MoS but has since said the apparent confession was false and his signature ‘forged’.
Associated Newspapers, publisher of both titles, also denies that its journalists commissioned PIs to hack voicemails, intercept landline calls and ‘blag’ the claimants’ private information, and described the allegations as ‘preposterous’.
Mr Henderson, who worked at both newspapers during a 50-year career in journalism specialising in ‘serious investigations and foreign assignments’ such as tracking down the Lockerbie bomb suspect in Libya, called the claims ‘surreal’.
He described Mr Burrows’ disputed ‘confession’ as a ‘litany of lies’ and told the court: ‘I would like the claimants in this action to know I never did any of this.’
He added: ‘These lies are being used against me on matters I would never, ever have got involved in.’
He said he was contacted by Scotland Yard during its phone hacking investigation and told he was potentially a victim of convicted private detective, Glenn Mulcaire.
Paul Henderson, ex-investigations editor and news editor at The Mail on Sunday at the High Court
Prince Harry at the High Court in January 2026
The court heard Mr Mulcaire admitted attempting to hack targets within the company to get information for other newspapers.
Mr Henderson was shown a ‘pitch’ memo said to set out Mr Mulcaire’s services, and said: ‘These are
very, very serious allegations and a very, very serious so-called menu of illegal acts. I would not have got involved.’
He added: ‘If anybody had suggested something like that to me, I would have ended the meeting and I would not deal with them again. But this has never happened.’
The trial continues.
