US private investigator did unlawful stuff' for the Daily Mail, court hears

"A US-based private detective bought a large house in California and had $150,000 in savings almost entirely from work he did for the publisher of the Daily Mail, the high court has heard. Daniel Portley-Hanks, also known as Detective Danno, said he received about $1m for work carried out for the Mail on Sunday, another title published by Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL)."

"Portley-Hanks said he worked for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday from the early 1990s to around 2013. He said he was the database guy, stating: All I needed was a name or a phone number and I could find a target's contact and other private details, usually within minutes. In court, Portley-Hanks said he did not believe anything he was doing was illegal at the time,"

Daniel Portley-Hanks, a US-based private detective, bought a large house in California and had $150,000 in savings mostly derived from work for the publisher of the Daily Mail. Payments for work on the Mail on Sunday totaled about $1m. Employment with Associated Newspapers Ltd continued from the early 1990s until around 2013, with Portley-Hanks describing himself as a database specialist able to locate targets' contacts and private details quickly. The publisher reportedly ceased using his services after the 2012 Leveson inquiry and allegedly required surrender of his investigator licence to continue. ANL denies unlawful conduct and calls the allegations lurid and preposterous.

Read at www.theguardian.com