Gavin Burrows, a private investigator at the centre of legal action by the Duke of Sussex and others against the publisher of the Daily Mail, has claimed that his signature on an earlier witness statement was a 'forgery', the High Court has heard.
Burrows, linked to the most serious allegations of unlawful information gathering made by seven prominent individuals including Elton John and Doreen Lawrence, retracted his alleged confession, saying it was 'completely false'. In a fresh 30-page witness statement made on 25 September 2025, he said he did 'not recognise' the 'purported witness statement on 16 August 2021' and believed it was 'prepared by others'.
Burrows added: 'I do not recognise the earlier witness statement of 16 August 2021 and I believe that my signature on that document is a forgery. A lot of it is not written in my type of language. Further, the contents of the statement are substantially untrue.'
He claimed he was on heavy painkillers after a serious physical assault and drinking heavily when he was approached by former journalist Graham Johnson, who wanted help with research on phone-hacking claims against newspapers. Burrows said Johnson described the claims as a 'perfect scam' and a 'gravy train', and that he had told Johnson 'a hundred times that ANL were not one of my clients'.
Antony White KC, for Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), asked the court to allow him to cross-examine Burrows, while David Sherborne, for the group, made an application to call his evidence as hearsay. Mr Justice Nicklin gave Sherborne seven days to decide whether to apply for a witness summons, and told him if Burrows gave inconsistent evidence, he could apply to treat him as 'hostile'.
