Prince Harry cannot broaden legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) to include new allegations against Rupert Murdoch, the High Court has ruled.

On Tuesday, Mr Justice Fancourt said the individual allegations against Mr Murdoch added “nothing material” to the case.

The Duke of Sussex was further refused permission to change the timeline of allegations back to 1994 and 1995 and forward to 2012, with the judge saying it was “too late”.

Harry and several others are suing NGN – publisher of the Sun and the defunct News of the World – over allegations of phone hacking and unlawful information gathering, which the publisher denies.

The duke was granted permission for amendments including further allegations against journalists and private investigators.

Lawyers representing people suing NGN claimed that Mr Murdoch knew of unlawful activity as early as 2004 but “turned a blind eye” to the allegations while overseeing a “culture of impunity” at the publisher.

But their request to update the case was denied, with the judge ruling that allegations against “trophy targets” including Mr Murdoch added “nothing material” to the case.

“The trial is not an enquiry,” he added.

A spokesman for NGN said the court had “thoroughly vindicated” the group’s position by refusing permission to introduce “large and significant” amendments to the case.

The group’s lawyers had previously called the new claims “scurrilous and cynical”.

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Source BBC news