Katie Nicholl, a former editor at the Daily Mail, testified that she did not use unlawful means to acquire details about Sadie Frost's ectopic pregnancy in 2003. According to Nicholl, the tip for the story came from freelance journalist Sharon Feinstein, whom she described as having 'a very good source' within Frost's inner circle. However, Feinstein has not given evidence in the case, leaving questions about the identity and credibility of this alleged source.
Barrister David Sherborne, representing Frost and other claimants, suggested that Nicholl's discovery of details about the pregnancy 'must be from unlawful information gathering'. Sherborne alleged that Nicholl used private investigators to find out the information, pointing to notes in her notebook that referenced 'Susie', which he said was a reference to Susie Mallis from the private investigation firm ELI. The claimants also point to ELI payment notes days later, labelled 'Katie Nicholls Urgent Enq' and 'K Nicholl's Searches'.
' She added that she could not be 100% sure her note said 'Susie' and suggested it might have referred to 'Sadie' instead. Frost's legal team stated that the actress only told the father of her unborn child and 'maybe also one of her very close friends' about the ectopic pregnancy and subsequent termination. They emphasized that she did not tell her sisters or even her own mother.
Ectopic pregnancies occur when the embryo starts growing outside the womb, usually in the fallopian tube, and can be life-threatening. Nicholl's notebook entries included details such as 'Sadie Frost: Had some note re: Ultrascan. Yes, she is having that kind of treatment.
She went for an ultrasound. ' Later entries recorded Frost 'found out about ectopic pregnancy beginning of last week', adding 'she's very angry with herself' and 'they [Frost and her partner] were using condoms'. Sherborne claimed this information had been obtained by intercepting voicemails, but Nicholl denied that articles about private conversations came from phone-hacking, calling such suggestions 'nonsense' and asserting she had 'a genuine source'.
The court heard that 'blagging' was when someone impersonated someone else to obtain private information. Sherborne put it to Nicholl that her notes record 'an obvious medical blag' of Frost's records, but Nicholl said she had never asked anyone to blag medical records and did not recall using ELI. ' Sherborne had earlier suggested Nicholl asked Frost 'an extraordinarily intrusive question' about whether she had been pregnant in the last 12 weeks, implying she was seeking confirmation 'so you had a legitimate source for the story if anyone complained'.
Nicholl responded that she was trying to 'stand up' the story and that Frost denied it, so they did not run it. Sherborne told the court there were a number of reasons why the story was not published, including Frost's denial, the involvement of her lawyers, and the sensitivity of the story. Frost is one of a group of seven people, including Prince Harry, alleging that Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) used unlawful information gathering such as blagging, hacking, and phone tapping to obtain stories over two decades.
ANL denies all the accusations of wrongdoing, describing them as lurid and preposterous. Nicholl is a significant figure in the case, as her name appears on many of the stories that Frost, Prince Harry, and others have complained about. She is also named as an author of seven articles in Prince Harry's claim against ANL, which he alleges came from unlawful information gathering.
In written evidence, Nicholl said she had 'an excellent, reliable network of contacts' and got many stories about Prince Harry from friends. The exact methods used to obtain the sensitive information about Frost's ectopic pregnancy and medical history remain unclear, and the outcome of the trial regarding the allegations against Associated Newspapers and Katie Nicholl is pending.