Mirror group pays out over €1.4m to hacking victims

Over £1m (€1.4m) in damages has been awarded to stars including Paul Gascoigne and Sadie Frost over phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers.

The ex-England footballer was awarded £188,250 at the High Court and actress Frost received £260,250.

Lawyers for phone-hacking victims claimed yesterday’s payouts, totalling some £1.2, were “unparalleled”.

Trinity Mirror, which owns Mirror Group Newspapers, said it was considering an appeal, but revealed it had set aside a further £4m to cover the cost of more claims, taking the total to £16m.

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Eight damages awards were announced at London’s High Court after a three-week hearing in March to determine the extent of the wrongdoing at the group and what level of compensation was appropriate.

Justice Mann awarded £85,000 to TV executive Alan Yentob, £117,500 and £157,250, respectively, to actresses Shobna Gulati and Lucy Taggart, and £155,000 to soap star Shane Richie.

TV producer Robert Ashworth, who was married to actress Tracy Shaw, received £201,250, and flight attendant Lauren Alcorn, who had a relationship with soccer star Rio Ferdinand, was awarded £72,500.

The judge said the victims had all suffered a “serious infringement of privacy” and the scale of hacking was “very substantial indeed”.

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