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| Phone-hacking claimants drop demand for exemplary damages | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Lawyers acting for more than 170 alleged phone-hacking victims, including Cherie Blair and Wayne Rooney, have dropped their claim for exemplary damages, the high court has been told, as News International accused them of seeking "windfall" payouts. | Lawyers acting for more than 170 alleged phone-hacking victims, including Cherie Blair and Wayne Rooney, have dropped their claim for exemplary damages, the high court has been told, as News International accused them of seeking "windfall" payouts. |
| Hugh Tomlinson QC, acting for the individuals suing News International, told Mr Justice Vos at the high court on Thursday that they were dropping this element of their claim because they did not want to prejudice the criminal proceedings faced by former editors and journalists on the News of the World. | Hugh Tomlinson QC, acting for the individuals suing News International, told Mr Justice Vos at the high court on Thursday that they were dropping this element of their claim because they did not want to prejudice the criminal proceedings faced by former editors and journalists on the News of the World. |
| Tomlinson said the decision was taken following events at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, when News International's former chief executive Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson were given a provisional date of 9 September 2013 for a trial relating to phone-hacking charges. | Tomlinson said the decision was taken following events at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, when News International's former chief executive Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson were given a provisional date of 9 September 2013 for a trial relating to phone-hacking charges. |
| News International said it welcomed the decision because exemplary damages above and beyond general damages were unsustainable in law. | News International said it welcomed the decision because exemplary damages above and beyond general damages were unsustainable in law. |
| Dinah Rose QC, the publisher's counsel, went on to accuse the phone-hacking claimants of trying to punish News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that published the now closed News of the World. | Dinah Rose QC, the publisher's counsel, went on to accuse the phone-hacking claimants of trying to punish News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that published the now closed News of the World. |
| "We are prepared to pay full and fair compensation in every appropriate case," Rose told the high court. | "We are prepared to pay full and fair compensation in every appropriate case," Rose told the high court. |
| But she added that the claims for exemplary damages were "not reasonable and were not about compensation". | But she added that the claims for exemplary damages were "not reasonable and were not about compensation". |
| "It was an attempt to persuade the court to punish NGN by awarding financial windfalls ... [exemplary damages are] unsustainable in law, unjustified and bound to fail. [We are] very glad ... They have seen the light." | "It was an attempt to persuade the court to punish NGN by awarding financial windfalls ... [exemplary damages are] unsustainable in law, unjustified and bound to fail. [We are] very glad ... They have seen the light." |
| The change in tack by the phone-hacking claimants came during a case management conference at the high court, overseen by Vos. | The change in tack by the phone-hacking claimants came during a case management conference at the high court, overseen by Vos. |
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