Murdoch pays £2m to murdered schoolgirl’s family

RUPERT MURDOCH’S company has agreed to pay £2 million (€2.3m) to the family of a murdered schoolgirl whose phone was hacked by the tabloid News of the World.

News International and the family of Milly Dowler confirmed the settlement in a joint statement. It said Murdoch also will donate £1m to charities chosen by the Dowler family, including youth and cancer research groups.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old News of the World in July, after evidence emerged that its reporters had eavesdropped on the telephone voicemail messages of 13-year-old Milly, who disappeared in 2002 and was later found murdered.

That started a storm of public outrage that rocked Murdoch’s media empire and ricocheted through Britain’s political, police and media establishments.

“Nothing that has been agreed will ever bring back Milly or undo the traumas of her disappearance and the horrendous murder trial earlier this year,” the Dowlers said in the statement. “The only way that a fitting tribute could be agreed was to ensure that a very substantial donation to charity was made in Milly’s memory. We hope that projects will be undertaken so that some good can come from this.”

Murdoch had met with the Dowlers in July to personally apologise to the family, saying he was “appalled” with what had happened.

In yesterday’s statement, he said he hoped something positive can be done in memory of Milly.

“The behaviour that the News of the World exhibited towards the Dowlers was abhorrent and I hope this donation underscores my regret for the company’s role in this awful event,” he said.

The revelation that reporters eavesdropped on Milly Dowler’s voice mail messages and deleted them while the police were searching for her — and mounting evidence that phone hacking was routine at the newspaper — scandalised the British public.

In a letter to lawmakers, Surrey Police Chief Constable Mark Rowley acknowledged that his force knew as far back as April 2002 that someone working for the News of the World had accessed Dowler’s voicemail, giving false hope to the missing teen’s family and potentially interfering with the investigation.

Murdoch’s News Corp has expressed contrition, launched an internal inquiry and set aside £20m to compensate victims.