The Sun is facing fresh allegations that phone hacking took place at the newspaper, including when the News UK chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, was editor.
Rupert Murdoch’s media company has always said illegal voicemail interception only took place at the now defunct News of the World newspaper and no illegality occurred at the Sun.
Yet in recent years the company has, without any admission of liability, reached financial settlements with three individuals who made specific claims that phone hacking took place at the Sun.
There are now eight additional “Sun-only claims” working their way through the legal system. The group is led by the actor Hugh Grant, who has been joined by the 7/7 London bombings survivor John Tulloch, the jockey Kieren Fallon, and David Beckham’s father, Ted. The other individuals making Sun-only claims include Charlotte Church’s mother, Maria, George Best’s former agent Phil Hughes, Paul Gascoigne’s friend Jimmy “Five Bellies” Gardner and Tricia Bernal, the mother of the murdered stalking victim Clare Bernal.
All eight individuals were among the first News of the World phone-hacking victims to receive settlements from Murdoch’s company but are now alleging phone hacking also took place at the Sun.
The Sun-only claims come after more than 150 individuals launched new phone-hacking cases against Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN). They include:
Gerry McCann, the father of missing child Madeleine McCann.
The former cabinet ministers Peter Mandelson, Andy Burnham, Tom Watson, Vince Cable, Chris Huhne and Alistair Carmichael, plus the former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.
Tom Parker Bowles and Andrew Parker Bowles, the son and ex-husband of Camilla, Queen Consort.
Doreen Lawrence, the mother of the murdered schoolboy Stephen Lawrence, who has also started separate proceedings against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Singer Tulisa, who was the subject of a drugs sting by the Sun on Sunday’s “fake sheikh” reporter Mazher Mahmood.
The British schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies, who was falsely suspected of murdering Joanna Yeates.
The former footballers Shaun Wright-Phillips and Robbie Fowler.
Comedian Jimmy Carr, actor Christopher Biggins and film director Sam Mendes.
The presenters Tom Bradby, Clare Balding, Chris Moyles, Diane-Louise Jordan and Anne Diamond.
The musicians Louise Redknapp, Gary Barlow and Nadine Coyle.
Since 2006, Murdoch’s media company has paid hundreds of millions of pounds in legal fees and damages to settle claims of phone hacking, primarily at the News of the World. Brooks was found not guilty of phone hacking in a criminal trial in 2014 before returning to run Murdoch’s UK media business as chief executive a year later. She now oversees newspapers, radio stations and television channels including the Sun, the Times, TalkTV and Virgin Radio.
Despite efforts by NGN to halt the legal proceedings, a judge recently confirmed there would be at least one more wave of claimants. This means the phone-hacking claims against Murdoch’s company are on track to last more than 20 years, making them one of the longest series of cases in English legal history. Reach, the publisher of the Mirror, also continues to face expensive litigation.
The three “Sun-only” claims that have already been settled were brought by the actor Sienna Miller, former footballer Gascoigne, and the ex-Lib Dem MP Sir Simon Hughes.
Miller said she had wanted to take the case all the way to trial but – despite a successful Hollywood career – she was unable to afford the millions of pounds in legal fees that would be required. As a result she accepted a financial settlement while singling Brooks out for criticism.
Hughes also received a settlement after alleging his phone was hacked during the time Brooks was editor of the Sun. Outside court he said: “I have been very clear that we have not named names, but it is clear from all I have seen that it went to the top of the Sun. I think I will have to leave you to draw your own conclusions about that.”
A spokesperson for NGN said: “Since 2011 we have settled cases relating to historical allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World and the company has offered apologies to those affected.”
They said the company had settled the previous Sun-only cases for a variety of reasons and it was not an admission of guilt: “NGN has always maintained that phone hacking did not take place on the Sun. A handful of cases have made claims against the Sun only and have come to financial settlements in the course of the litigation, without admission of liability. Those familiar with civil litigation will be aware that settlement is a practice encouraged by the courts and there are many reasons for both parties to settle a case without admission of wrongdoing including for all sorts of commercial reasons.
“As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago. We have not however ruled out taking disputed cases to trial or challenging where cases should have been brought many years ago.”
