A dizzying number of celebrities, public figures, and ordinary people caught up in the crossfire were sucked into the phone-hacking scandal last year. And hacked phones have resulted in legal cases. Lots of them.
Indeed, in April last year, News International set up a £20m compensation scheme in an attempt to settle the claims before they reached the high court. Today, some of those settlements were announced.
Here is a full list of the payouts announced today (including those in the photo gallery above, and some others):
– Jude Law, actor: £130,000
– Sadie Frost, actress and former wife of Law: £50,000
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– Ben Jackson, former assistant to Law: £40,000
– Ciara Parkes, former PR consultant to Law and Sienna Miller: £35,000
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– John Prescott, former deputy Prime Minister: £40,000
– Joan Hammell, former chief of staff to Prescott: £30,000
– Denis Macshane, Labour MP and former Europe minister: £32,000
– Joan Smith, author and journalist who had a relationship with Macshane: £27,500
– Gavin Henson, Welsh rugby player and former husband of Charlotte Church: £40,000
– Chris Bryant, Labour MP: £30,000
– Ashley Cole, footballer, formerly married to Cheryl Cole: undisclosed
– Guy Pelly, friend of Prince Harry’s: £40,000
– Lisa Gower, who allegedly had an affair with Steve Coogan: £30,000
– Tom Rowland, property lawyer: £25,000
– Graham Shear, football lawyer: £25,000
– Christopher Shipman, son of Harold: undisclosed “substantial” amount
– Clare Ward, Labour MP: undisclosed
– Anonymous claimant HJK: £60,000
All in all, it’s been rather an expensive day for News International — particularly bearing in mind that these amounts are on top of legal costs. Several other settlements have already been made with celebrities including Ulrika Jonnson, Calum Best and James Hewitt.
And it’s not over yet. On 13 February, a full hearing will take place at the High Court. Those claimants are Sky Andrew, Laura Rooney, Charlotte Church, Steve Coogan, Simon Hughes MP, Tracey Temple, Kieran Fallon, Pete Doherty, Sally King, Andrew King and John Anderson, Samantha Wallin