He said the duke had been persuaded by campaigners to launch a “trumped-up action” that should “never” have made it to trial.
In response, the duke said the ruling was a “complete reversal of the position which previous judges have taken in relation to the hacking claims” brought against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Sun and the defunct News of the World, and Mirror Group Newspapers.
In a joint statement, both he and Lawrence said: “We came to court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither.
“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected. However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted.”
The judge found that every single article was legitimately sourced. He said: “The claimants failed to prove their pleaded allegations of UIG [unlawful information gathering].”
The ruling followed an 11-week trial, heard earlier this year.
The duke and his fellow claimants face potentially crippling legal bills. They were warned by the judge last year that the financial “consequences” of a defeat could be substantial.
A two-day hearing to determine who will stump up the estimated £50 million cost of the case will be held on July 29-30.
Dacre, who edited the Daily Mail from 1992 until 2018, said the claim formed part of a “sinister” attempt to bring down the newspaper group, resuscitate Leveson Two and impose statutory regulation on the press.
He said the claim had been bankrolled by the late “orgy-loving racist Max Mosley” and Hugh Grant, the former director of Hacked Off, a pressure group that campaigns for tighter press regulation.
Dacre said: “Poor Harry. I feel sorry for the way a confused and angry young man has been drawn into this case.
“The truth is that this trumped-up action, which has cost well over £5m and wasted a huge amount of valuable court time, should never have been brought to trial. That it did raises profoundly disturbing questions about the conduct of elements of the legal profession.
“Today’s verdict is not just a victory for Associated’s magnificent journalists – several of whom have had a terrible toll imposed on their health and lives – but a free press generally. Make no mistake, this was a conspiracy, supported by Hacked Off, to destroy a paper.”
Dacre also said he would “never be able to comprehend” why Lawrence had turned on the newspaper.
The Daily Mail, under the editorship of Dacre, was at the forefront of the fight to bring Stephen Lawrence’s killers to justice, calling the five men – Gary Dobson, Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight and David Norris – “murderers” in February 1997 and challenging them to sue for libel.
Neville Lawrence, the Labour peer’s ex-husband and father of Stephen Lawrence, told The Telegraph that he would never have brought such a claim and would have given evidence in support of Dacre had he been asked.
The judge rejected the claimants’ argument that because information contained in the newspaper articles was private and that, with the passage of time, the publisher could not explain how it was obtained, it “must have been unlawfully sourced”.
He was also critical of the “legal research team” behind the claim, finding parts of their evidence “inconsistent” and “unconvincing”.
He said the “camouflage scheme” devised in an attempt to reset the clock and to bypass the legal six-year time limit to bring the claim was “dishonest” and “involved a deception”.
The judge also criticised some of the solicitors working for the claimants. Anjlee Sangani, who was instructed by Lawrence, Sir Elton, David Furnish and Hurley, was found to be an “unimpressive witness” who had displayed a “serious error of professional judgment” in her handling of a disputed witness statement by Gavin Burrows, a private investigator.
The evidence of Mark Thomson, who acted for Sadie Frost and Sir Simon Hughes, was described as “unreliable” and “inconsistent”.
The claimants have not yet indicated whether they will appeal.
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