Steve Coogan calls for Leveson inquiry to resume as he confirms six-figure settlement and Sienna Miller receives ‘substantial’ payout

Steve Coogan wins phone-hacking damages from Mirror Group

Coogan calls for Leveson inquiry to resume as he confirms six-figure settlement and Sienna Miller receives ‘substantial’ payout

Steve Coogan and Sienna Miller have received hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages from the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People after it admitted hacking their phones and covering up unlawful activities.
The settlements for Coogan and Miller were confirmed at the high court in London on Tuesday, as were the settlements for the TV presenter Jamie Theakston, former Eastenders actor Michael Greco, and Michelle Mellor, the wife of actor Will Mellor.

Coogan appeared at the high court for his settlement to be confirmed in front of Mr Justice Mann. The amount of damages was not revealed in court and is confidential, but Coogan confirmed afterwards it was a six-figure sum and the scale of it “will make Mirror executives blush”. It is thought to be one of the biggest ever payments related to phone hacking.

Speaking outside court, the actor and comedian said the outcome was vindication for him and that most of the payment would go to good causes.

Coogan described the behaviour of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) as a disgrace and an “insult to the memory of Hugh Cudlipp [the former editor of the Daily Mirror]”. He also called for the second part of the Leveson inquiry into the British press to take place so that the allegations of hacking at MGN could be properly scrutinised.

“It is my view that editors and executives, such as Sly Bailey, Piers Morgan, Paul Vickers, Tina Weaver and Richard Wallace, have not yet been subjected to proper scrutiny, taking into account what has emerged since the first half of the inquiry,” he said. “The second part of the Leveson inquiry must find out who hacked, who knew about it, and who covered it up or turned a blind eye. The Leveson inquiry must be completed now as the government has promised.”

Morgan, Weaver and Wallace edited MGN titles during the periods covered by the allegations, while Bailey was chief executive of MGN’s parent company, Trinity Mirror, and Vickers was the legal director. They have all denied being involved in phone hacking or having knowledge of it.

Lawyers representing MGN said in court that it “acknowledges that Mr Coogan was the target of unlawful activities and that these activities were concealed until years later”. They added: “It apologises to Mr Coogan for its wrongdoing over a decade ago and for any articles that were the product of unlawful activity and for the concealment of these activities. MGN apologises to Mr Coogan and accepts that he and other victims should not have been denied the truth for so long.”
David Sherborne, who was representing Coogan, said the comedian had identified 62 articles in the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People that he alleges came from hacking his voicemail, unlawfully obtaining personal information from third parties, or surveillance by private investigators.

These articles caused “enormous distress and significant damage to Mr Coogan’s relationships with those he wrongly suspected had leaked the private information or who believed he was the cause of their private information being made public”, Sherborne said.

The barrister added: “Mr Coogan is clear that if Trinity Mirror had conducted a proper investigation at an early stage then the unlawful activity could have been stopped, and prevented the enormous distress and damage it caused its victims, their family and friends.”

Trinity Mirror has put aside more than £50m to cover the costs of the hacking scandal, including compensation payouts and legal fees.

It has already settled dozens of cases, including a batch of 44 in April that included former England football manager Kevin Keegan, the writer Jeffrey Archer, the actor Patsy Kensit and the former home secretary Charles Clarke.

Sadie Frost, the actor and fashion designer, received a record payment from MGN of £260,250 in 2015. However, this settlement is understood to have been surpassed since then by payouts that have not been made public.

This includes the settlement for Elizabeth Hurley, which was confirmed in May. Hurley alleged that MGN published 58 separate articles between July 1998 and March 2007 that include information that had been obtained unlawfully.
Miller was targeted “extensively” by MGN journalists from at least 2003 onwards and received “substantial damages”, according to her lawyer.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/oct/03/steve-coogan-wins-phone-hacking-damages-from-mirror-group

Well done Mr Steve Coogan and the other named defendants for persisting with your claims.

I don't know the reason why Mr Coogan came under this nasty pernicious treatment of invasion of"Privacy"between the Communicators,is it of his Educational class system,being a "Comedienne"that he was targeted or his sexuality,it doesn't matter a jot,You Broke the Law. But for your organisation having to pay out compensation,the"Instigators"should end up in Prison as a place of Safety,to reflect on what they had done,trying to harm innocent people who had not broke any Laws.

I would hazard a guess that Coogan was more than a little cheesed off when the press published some articles about him taking drugs and having prostitutes in his hotel room.   A search on internet will bring some of these up.

I would also hazard a guess that he would be very pleased for drastic action to be taken against the press for publishing such articles.

When people are in the public domain and make money from it then the press will inevitably look into their private lives.  Got to live with it.

I do not agree that they should have hacked his phone but I believe the public should know what these celebrities get up to in their private lives.   Having read some of the articles about him I certainly will not have him on tv and I hope that the newspapers are alllowed to continue to publish and be damned so to speak.  Free speech forever.

Hi Plebgate,Textusa, come in for an hell of amount of stick for the assumption of "Swinging"being paradoxical in Madeleine McCann's disappearance,that this was why there is this"cover Up"due to the Nature of "Swinging practices" do not happen amongst the upper,echelons in Society,it must be a figment of imagination of the plebs,that the upper classes don't display"Carnal Activities" amongst themselves,"Profumo Affair",Lord Dennings report redacted until 2064,Daves inlaws?
But if a Comedienne,hire Ladies of the Night and consumes illegal drugs,it is rife for the world to know it?  
Save for the most recent upper,echelon,from Formula One racing Industry,with his Sado Mistresses, But if the upper classes display similar traits,these need to be protected,as in what those who may have been found out,may openly then argue, then why don't you print the salacious details or the peccadilo's,practised by Ma Learned friends,one rule for one class?
Isn't a"Private Life" just that Private,that no one has the right to know everything about someone,no matter who you are,that is why it's called a Private life isn't it?
Rupert Murdoch,NoTW,Sky News,Piers Morgan,Mirror Group News Papers,chose to hack these peoples phones,they openly broke the Law,Scotland Yard have been implicated in the Process,with very close associations to both Labour and Conservative Governments being Black mailed by the News Paper Groups for years,Unsolved Death of Daniel Morgan,spring to mind?

No if someone is taking illegal drugs then it should not remain a private matter imo Willow.   Same for using prostitutes - although I'm not sure if that is illegal any longer.

I agree though about the elites and cover ups, the difference being I guess is that the elites have the ability to penalise the press if they dare to make their shenanigans public.

One rule and all that but as a parent and indeed for myself I want to know what these celebs are up to in their private life if it involves illegal activity.

plebgate wrote:No if someone is taking illegal drugs then it should not remain a private matter imo Willow.   Same for using prostitutes - although I'm not sure if that is illegal any longer.

I agree though about the elites and cover ups, the difference being I guess is that the elites have the ability to penalise the press if they dare to make their shenanigans public.

One rule and all that but as a parent and indeed for myself I want to know what these celebs are up to in their private life if it involves illegal activity.

Hi plebgate,in regard to the illegal Drugs issue,then this would have wiped out a certain of previous Government persons from holding Office,it certainly would have ruled out Snow White and the Severn dwarfs from Eton,mess crew,"Look at all that snow Rudolf" Snoort??

SKY NEWS JUST NOW
Government will NOT press ahead with Leveson 2 .  ! ! !

And Labour highly embarrassed by Impress being funded by Moseley . . .


Another link to the McCanns, who want the press to be censored by an organisation funded by a sexual pervert (amongst other things).
Leveson was full of perverts complaining about the press recording - accurately - on their activities.
Had any of it been inaccurate they could have simply sued for libel.
As could the McCanns - but they, though, would have had to go into the witness box and be cross examined.

....a good day to avalanche bury bad news!  Where's Tom Watson these days?  Nothing on twitter yet?  Will he be an emergency guest on 24 hr News, Daily Politics / Newsnight??

Edited, just seen TW''s reply.  Credit to him.  Sounds like its all over tbh.  The rich got their mea culpa from the newspapers and a nice fat paycheck, the "Plebs" sfa as usual.  God forbid anyone went on to investigate the link between payments between the police and journo's!

Great news. The press will NOT be censored. In fact, old Max has bitten off more than he can chew.......there's nowt as furious as a Daily Mail scorned !!