Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne has become the latest high-profile figure to sue the News of the World for breach of privacy over alleged phone-hacking dating back to the Goodman/Mulcaire era – pre-2007 (The Observer).
It brings the total to around a dozen figures who have outstanding legal actions over the matter.
It could be that some are hoping for big money settlements. Max Clifford is believed to have settled his privacy action with the paper for around £1m in March last year. Further payouts totalling around £1m are believed to have been paid to chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association Graham Taylor and two of his legal advisors.
The upper limit on damages for privacy actions – as set by Max Mosley in his case against the News of the World – is £60,000; so News International could now be wagering that it will be cheaper to let these cases play out.
Figures suing the paper include former MP George Galloway and comedian Steve Coogan.
Here The Guardian has a list of all the named individuals mobile phone voice messages may have been intercepted by the News of the World so far.
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