Former Daily Mail showbusiness editor denies hacking Sadie Frost's voicemails

A former Daily Mail showbusiness editor has denied listening to voicemails between actors Jude Law and Sadie Frost Law and said stories she wrote about their relationship came from an "amazing source".

Nicole Lampert said the source was close to Frost and that information had been passed to the newspaper through a "trusted freelance journalist".

Frost told the high court she distrusted friends at the time but now "100%" believes that stories about her were obtained by hacking her voicemails.

The actress is one of seven high-profile claimants accusing the Mail's publisher, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), of "grave breaches of privacy" over a 20-year period. ANL has denied wrongdoing.

Frost's claim relates to four articles published between 2003 and 2005 on which Lampert has a byline.

Giving evidence to the court on Tuesday, Lampert said that she had "never" listened to voicemail messages in order to obtain information for stories and dismissed the claim as "rubbish".

She said that information in one of the articles was either already in the public domain or "almost certainly came from a freelance contact" who she identified as Sharon Feinstein.

"Sharon had a very strong source in Sadie Frost Law's social circle or family and was able to get excellent information from that source, so I would usually speak to her," Lampert said.

She added: "This was always the same source, and I knew who her source was, and knew that they were able to provide reliable information."

David Sherbone, representing the claimants, asked Lampert about a series of articles she wrote containing private details of conversations between Law and Frost during the breakdown of their marriage, which he claimed had been obtained by listening to their phone messages.

One article in October 2004 referred to discussions about a £10m divorce settlement. Law's solicitors later complained that it was wrong to suggest he had accepted the settlement, and the Daily Mail published an apology.

Sherborne suggested the newspaper had been unable to challenge the complaint because the information had been obtained through phone hacking and the true source could not be revealed. Lampert rejected the claim.

"I had an amazing human source via a trusted freelance journalist," she said, maintaining that the information came from Feinstein's contact.

When asked about an article reporting that Frost had been proscribed sleeping pills, Lampert said: "We wouldn't ever report that sort of information now, but that was par for the course then."

The court also heard about a story concerning Law's decision to tell the couple's son during a car journey that he planned to marry actress Sienna Miller. The Daily Mail subsequently ran a story about Frost's anger at how the engagement had been communicated.

Sherborne put it to Lampert that she had acquired the information by listening to voicemail messages, to which she said: "No I did not, never."

"You had listened to the most primary source you could," Sherborne said. Lampert replied: "Rubbish."

The claimants, which include Prince Harry, have accused ANL of "clear, systematic and sustained use of unlawful information gathering" for stories between 1993 and "beyond" 2018, including through private investigators and blagging.

The case is ongoing and is expected to last nine weeks.