Sadie Frost said the Daily Mail put a “price on my head” for the stories as she told the court she was “violated” by reporters who hacked her voicemail for information.
The actress became emotional as she gave evidence in her lawsuit against the paper’s publisher – which includes claims that a reporter learned of her termination of pregnancy through a private investigator.
She told the High Court that she knew “100%” that the other stories were obtained through hacking because they matched her voicemails “word for word”. In a written statement, she said the alleged activity made her believe she “couldn’t trust anyone”.
Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) has denied all wrongdoing in relation to Frost and six other claimants, including Prince Harry.
In court, Frost accused Mail reporters of calling her then-husband, actor Jude Law, in 2002 to reveal that her two-year-old daughter had swallowed part of an ecstasy tablet at a children’s party. Frost broke down in tears as she recalled the press attention that followed.
She was “humiliated” after learning that her landline was allegedly tapped, she said in her statement, adding that it had caused “pain” to her and her children.
Frost and other claimants accuse Associated Newspapers of “serious breaches of privacy” over a 20-year period.
Her claim relates to 11 articles and two “episodes” related to alleged illegal information gathering that were never published, including one about her pregnancy.
David Sherborne, representing Frost, said she found out she was pregnant in 2003, which was unplanned and later terminated. He said she had only disclosed the termination to the father, Jackson Scott, and “maybe” a close friend.
The barrister claimed that Katy Nicholl, then showbiz editor of the Mail on Sunday, must have known about the situation through “essential” illegal information gathering. He added that his notes were referred to a private investigator who charged him £400.
Antony White Casey, for the publisher, said the payment was not linked to the pregnancy and that Nicole had been told about the pregnancy by a freelance journalist with sources close to Frost.
During the inquest, Frost told the court: “There was obviously a price on my head. The Daily Mail said they were interested in Sadie Frost.”
When White suggested that members of Frost’s family had provided information to the press and that it “probably” encouraged his friends to do the same, Frost said he disagreed.
Concluding her evidence, she said it had been “demanding and very painful to retrieve what I didn’t want to retrieve”.
She said: “For my children to see what I’m going through, it makes me sad – but they’re very supportive, and I did it for them.”
Frost said in her written statement that the “so angry” publisher “was right to take advantage of someone who is going through so much pain with no thought for me or my children”.
She said she did not know if she had a potential claim against the publisher until 2019 and that ANL “must be held accountable”.
White argued that Frost’s claims were “without any evidentiary basis in court”. He said the stories were sourced “completely legitimately” and were known to his social circle as “leaky”, with family members routinely leaking information to the press.
He said claimants were “grasping at straws” and claims were being brought too late.
Privacy cases must generally be brought within six years of the alleged violation, unless victims can show they cannot bring suit within that time.
Other claimants in the case against ANL are:
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Sir Elton John and her husband David Furnish
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Sir Simon Hughes, former Liberal Democrat MP
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Baroness Doreen Lawrence, a campaigner whose son Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack in south London in 1993.
They accused ANL of “clear, systematic and persistent use of illegal information gathering” for stories between 1993 and “backwards” to 2018, through private investigators and blogging.
ANL has denied the allegations of illegal information collection.
The trial continues and is expected to last nine weeks.
