Phone Hacking: News International Settles With Claimants Including Jude Law And Lord Prescott

News International Settles Phone Hacking Claims

Dozens of celebrities and politicians, including Jude Law and Lord Prescott, have now settled damages claims over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

Actor Jude Law, former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott and Labour MP Chris Bryant are among the claimants whose settlements were confirmed at the High Court on Thursday.

Law accepted damages of £130,00 while Lord Prescott was given £40,000 and Bryant was handed £30,000.

Speaking outside the court, Bryant said News International had been "lying for year after year" and said he expected more people to go to jail as a result of the scandal.

Law said News Corp had abused the freedom of the press. "They have also finally admitted that what they did to me personally amounted to harassment and that it should never have happened," he said.

"For me this case was never about money. It was about standing up for myself and finding out what had happened. I owed it to my friends and family as well as myself to do this."

Lawyers for the claimants said the majority of people pursuing damages claims had now settled.

Mark Thomson, of Atkins Thomson, the claimants had been "extremely brave" to take on and succeed against a "massive and influential multinational media organisation".

"They can take the credit for triggering the new police investigation, the parliamentary inquiries and the Leveson Inquiry. They should be very pleased with what they have achieved," he said.

"A number of claimants are still pursuing the matter to trial and, as a result, NGN will continue to disclose further information and evidence."

Mark Lewis, the lawyer who acted for many of the victims of phone hacking, welcomed the settlements but said it was "too early to celebrate".

"While congratulations are due to those solicitors and clients who have settled their cases, it is important that we don't get carried away into thinking that the war is over," he said.

"This is just one of the early battles. Fewer than one per cent of the people who were hacked have settled their cases. There are many more cases in the pipeline.

"There will be lots more revelations of wrongdoing and lots more compensation to be paid. This is too early to celebrate, we're not even at the end of the beginning"

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