Press ‘hounded’ Rio Ferdinand’s ex

The ex-girlfriend of footballer Rio Ferdinand sobbed as she told the British High Court that the hacking of her voicemails had left her feeling “hounded” by the press.

Lauren Alcorn, a flight attendant, told Mr Justice Mann at the hearing to decide the amount of compensation to be awarded in eight representative cases brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), that she was 19 when she started going out with Ferdinand.

Alcorn, who complains about five articles — three of which are admitted to be the product of phone-hacking —said she was “completely shocked and disgusted” by the illegal activities at MGN, which carried on in her case from 2002 until 2006.