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Celebrity journalist Paul Martin has told the High Court he has “never” engaged in phone hacking.

The former editor of the Irish Sunday Mirror, who calls himself ‘Mr Showbiz’, was testifying in London on Thursday, when evidence from Coronation Street star Michael Turner, who plays Kevin Webster, was also presented.

Mr Martin was questioned by David Sherborne about his time working for the paper.

The Co Antrim man remained defiant in response to questions about “having little sympathy for celebrities’ phones getting hacked” on the premise that “if something’s true you can print it”.

Mr Martin maintained that stories that he printed as a showbiz editor have been “wrongly cited as a result of phone hacking, which I have certainly never done in my life”.

The 45-year-old, who lives between Galgorm and Miami, also said the allegation of unlawful activity against him has been “damaging”.

Referring to his own experience of cancer, the journalist told the court he was “disturbed” by Fiona Wightman’s evidence on Wednesday.

Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) has admitted to unlawfully obtaining the private medical records of the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse while she had ovarian cancer.

“I’ve shelved many an amazing front page, because it’s people we have a relationship with — or it’s not the right thing to do,” Mr Martin said.

One of only two former Mirror journalists to agree to giving evidence at the trial, Mr Martin was also questioned about the publication of private letters of the late Irish broadcaster Gerry Ryan who was found dead at his home in 2010 with cocaine in his system.

Mr Sherborne said the decision to publish his letters proves Mr Martin and his colleagues were “prepared to do things like voicemail interception and blagging”.

The witness denied this.

Mr Sherborne then played a video clip to the court of an interview conducted by Mr Martin accusing him of rifling through Mr Ryan’s bin to obtain “a treasure trove” of documents.

Mr Sherborne also read from another interview, in which Mr Martin says he “went over to it and emptied it” himself.

However, Mr Martin maintained he was given the information by an anonymous journalist.

He told the court that phone hacking “wasn’t a culture that existed in Ireland” as he was grilled about other stories he wrote about numerous celebrities.

Mr Sherborne said former Westlife star Brian McFadden has complained about 40 articles he wrote, along with his former partner Kerry Katona, who has also complained about 61 articles over alleged unlawful activity.

Pop star Cheryl, the late George Michael and Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia, were also listed among those who have complained about Mr Martin’s articles. “Is that a coincidence? Or is it your regular journalistic practice to use unlawful means?” Mr Sherbourne asked. Mr Martin responded, saying he “wouldn’t need to hack a phone” because “I had the relationships with them”.

He insisted that hacking didn’t happen in Ireland even if it has been proven to have happened at the Daily and Sunday Mirror in the UK.

“It wasn’t really a culture that existed — we didn’t know how to do it,” he said.

Mr Martin accused some celebrities of launching “whack a mole claims in the hope something might stick”.

The High Court was also told that stories about soap star Michael Turner printed by the Mirror’s publisher were a “complete violation” of his privacy and bore “all the hallmarks of unlawful information gathering”.

The 58-year-old who has acted in the Manchester-based show since 1983 alleges that titles run by MGN published “highly private details” about his life after targeting him with unlawful activity for some two decades.

The actor, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, is among a number of individuals suing the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People for compensation over claims its journalists were linked to phone hacking, so-called “blagging” or gaining information by deception and the use of private investigators for unlawful activities. MGN denies Mr Turner’s claim, arguing there is “no evidence” of voicemail interception or unlawful information gathering relating to him.

The actor’s lawyers previously told the court he was accused by fellow cast members of being “a mole” amid alleged phone hacking by journalists due to his position as a trade union representative.

Mr Turner’s legal team said he became “extremely paranoid and blamed people close to him for stories which were public, even abandoning his local pub as a result”.

Mr Turner’s barrister outlined his client’s case against the publisher ahead of the actor entering the witness box next week.

The complaint relates to 28 articles published between 1991 and 2001 some of which revealed details of a burglary at his home, the property he subsequently moved to and the impending birth of his daughter.