Associated Newspapers’ legal chief was questioned at the Leveson Inquiry today over the company’s statement accusing Hugh Grant of making\u00a0\u201cmendacious smears\u201d against the paper.<\/p>\n
Liz Hartley said Grant has used speculation “to accuse our group of phone hacking, which is a very serious allegation. We respond by defending ourselves.”<\/p>\n
“And you’re responding by accusing him of perjury,” Lord Justice Leveson responded.<\/p>\n
During his November testimony, Hugh Grant spoke<\/a> of a 2007\u00a0story in the Mail on Sunday that claimed his relationship with Jemima Khan was on the rocks due to his late night calls with a \u201cplummy voiced\u201d studio executive. Grant said the only way the paper could have sourced the story was through accessing his voicemail, and that he \u201cwould\u00a0love to hear what their source was if it wasn\u2019t phone hacking\u201d.<\/p>\n Associated Newspapers, the Mail’s publisher, responded with a statement accusing Grant of making “mendacious smears driven by his hatred of the media”. Hartley also revealed today that editor Paul Dacre, due to appear at the Inquiry next month, helped to draft the statement.<\/p>\n Victims’ lawyer David Sherborne suggested to Leveson this afternoon that the journalists responsible should give evidence under oath on 6 February to establish the source of the article.<\/p>\n