Murdoch group in mass payouts

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has made huge payouts to 37 phone-hacking victims including actor Jude Law, footballer Ashley Cole and former deputy premier John Prescott, their lawyers said yesterday.

The High Court in London heard new details of settlements amounting to more than £645,000 (€771,000), including £130,000 for Alfie star Law, for hacking by the News of the World tabloid.

Mr Law said in a statement after the hearing that he launched his case “to find out the truth” about the phone-hacking scandal, which led to the closure of the 168-year-old News of the World in July.

“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,” said Mr Law, 39.

He said the hacking by the News of the World and its daily sister paper The Sun led him to suspect friends and family because private information kept appearing in the press when the hacking took place between 2003 and 2006.

“I changed my phones, I had my house swept for bugs but still the information kept being published. I started to become distrustful of people close to me,” he added.

“No aspect of my private life was safe from intrusion.”Among the other payouts, Mr Prescott received £40,000, Law’s ex-wife Sadie Frost received £50,000, Mr Law’s personal assistant Ben Jackson received £40,000.”