Publisher reaches settlement with former West Bromwich MP Lord Tom Watson over unlawful information gathering claims
News Group Newspapers (NGN) has reached a settlement with former West Bromwich MP Lord Tom Watson and the Duke of Sussex over unlawful information gathering claims.
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It said its settlements with them both draw a line under the legal action.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the publisher highlighted that it had apologised for a number of matters, but that many allegations remain unproven.
The publisher said that Lord Watson’s phone was not hacked in 2009 to 2011, and had the matter gone to trial there would have been evidence from telecoms experts “to demonstrate that hacking after 2007 was nigh-on impossible due to security upgrades undertaken by telecoms companies”.
An NGN spokesperson said: “This evidence was also provided to the Leveson Inquiry. No admission has been made on this today.”
They said: “After more than a decade of litigation, and 14 years since the News Of The World closed down, today’s settlement draws a line under the past and brings an end to this litigation.”
The publisher stated it had long been a matter of record that Harry’s phone was hacked by the News Of The World, and while phone hacking at the newspaper was not due to be a part of the trial, it formed part of the settlement.
However, it stressed that there was no voicemail interception at The Sun.
The NGN spokesperson said: “Today, our apology to the Duke of Sussex includes an apology for incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun, not by journalists, during the period 1996-2011.
“There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now. There was no voicemail interception on The Sun.”
A spokesperson for NGN continued: “Today a full and unequivocal apology is given to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World.
“Phone hacking at the News Of The World was not due to be a part of this trial but it is a part of this settlement.”
The publisher also stressed that allegations of News International destroying evidence in 2010/11 were “strongly” denied, and would have been challenged at trial.
“This matter was also investigated fully by the police and CPS between 2012-2015, at the conclusion of which it was found that there was no case to answer,” the NGN spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that any cases now brought, years after the events, would be liable to be struck out.
