A US-based private detective has told the High Court that he carried out “unlawful stuff” for the publisher of the Daily Mail, receiving approximately $1 million for his work. Daniel Portley-Hanks, known as “Detective Danno”, said he worked for Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) from the early 1990s until around 2013, gathering personal data using only a name or phone number.
Portley-Hanks, 79, gave evidence in a case brought by seven claimants including Prince Harry, Sir Elton John, and others, who accuse ANL of using unlawful information-gathering techniques. He claimed he did not believe his actions were illegal at the time but now acknowledges they would be unlawful in the UK, including obtaining private details without consent.
ANL’s legal team challenged his admissions, pointing to his previous statements that he had not broken the law. The publisher denies the allegations, calling them “lurid” and “preposterous”. Portley-Hanks alleged that ANL tried to conceal his work by asking him to pose as a Hollywood reporter and that on one occasion he was used to pay a serving police officer for documents on Jeffrey Epstein – a claim ANL denies.
Portley-Hanks said he could not recall specifics about his work on Prince Harry, Elton John, or Elizabeth Hurley, but stated he knew he had done “unlawful stuff” on Prince Harry. He also revealed that he went bankrupt after ANL stopped using his services following the Leveson inquiry, having been told he could continue only if he surrendered his private investigator’s licence.
ANL’s legal team presented emails showing an editor sought confirmation that Portley-Hanks was acting lawfully, but the investigator claimed he was told to agree despite it being untrue. The publisher says the allegations are unsupported by evidence and that some journalists named had never heard of him before the case.
