A victim of the 7/7 bombing whose face became one of the defining images of the 2005 attack has received an apology and “substantial damages” from the publisher of the Sun and the defunct News of the World as it seeks to clear a raft of historical phone-hacking allegations.
The Murdoch-owned News UK made a number of settlements at the high court on Thursday, including agreeing to pay damages to Davinia Douglass, at times referred to as “the woman in the mask”, and a substantial six-figure sum for damages and legal costs to Chris Huhne, the former energy and climate change secretary, who said the payment vindicated his view that NGN had targeted him “to get rid of a political opponent”.
The comedian Catherine Tate, the DJ Chris Moyles, the actor and musician Keith Allen and the former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, known as Mel C, are among the celebrities who received an apology and significant damages.
Other payouts were made to Tate’s ex-partner Twig Clark, the DJ and presenter Jason Griffiths, known as Jason King, the model Catalina Guirado, the Gavin and Stacey actor Mathew Horne, the actor Rafferty Law, and the former Boyzone member Shane Lynch.
The settlements come before a hearing of the Duke of Sussex’s damages claim against News UK, the publisher of the Sun, which is scheduled for January.
Douglass started legal proceedings against News UK in June 2021, arguing that private information had been gathered about her by “deception and blagging”, including the hacking of her voicemails, which she told the court had made her “paranoid and suspicious” and caused her “considerable distress and upset”.
She said: “On a personal note, it has been a very emotional and difficult process that brought back many memories of what was a very dark and challenging period of my life. I am relieved that my claim has finally been settled.”
Through its legal team, News UK apologised for “the invasion of her privacy by individuals working for or on behalf of the News of the World. The defendant acknowledges that such activity should never have taken place and that it had no right to intrude into the private life of Ms Douglass in this way.”
News UK has accepted that phone hacking was widespread at the News of the World during the 2000s, but it has always insisted that the Sun, edited by Rebekah Brooks during much of this period, was not involved in illegality.
Christopher Hutchings, a solicitor who represented Tate, said the comedian had begun legal action in September 2022 and claimed that her voicemail messages were intercepted by journalists working for News UK, causing her “distress”. Regarding Tate’s claim, he said: “The defendant makes no admission of liability in relation to the claimant’s allegations of voicemail interception and/or other unlawful information gathering at the Sun.”
A spokesperson for News Group Newspapers (NGN), part of News UK, said it had made a “unreserved apology” to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World and paid damages to those with “proper claims” since.
A spokesperson said: “As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back [to] more than 20 years ago. In some cases it has made commercial sense for both parties to come to a settlement agreement before trial to bring a resolution to the matter.”
Hutchings, a media disputes partner at the law firm Hamlins, said: “We are happy to have obtained public apologies on behalf of our clients today. The impact of the publication of intrusive, private information can be long-lasting, and Hamlins continues its commitment to uncovering media wrongdoing for its clients. A public apology acknowledging the considerable distress and lasting damage caused can be a powerful form of vindication for claimants. We are pleased NGN has been held to account for its unlawful actions.”
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