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| Mirror chief questions size of phone-hacking payouts | Mirror chief questions size of phone-hacking payouts |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mirror has questioned the size of the £1.2m payouts made to victims of tabloid phone hacking, comparing the amounts with the £350,000 offered to each of the parents of the children killed by a faulty boiler in a Corfu hotel. | The publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mirror has questioned the size of the £1.2m payouts made to victims of tabloid phone hacking, comparing the amounts with the £350,000 offered to each of the parents of the children killed by a faulty boiler in a Corfu hotel. |
| Simon Fox said the newspaper group was considering an appeal against the high court ruling that awarded record compensation to eight individuals – including £260,250 to Sadie Frost and £188,250 Paul Gascoigne. | Simon Fox said the newspaper group was considering an appeal against the high court ruling that awarded record compensation to eight individuals – including £260,250 to Sadie Frost and £188,250 Paul Gascoigne. |
| Related: Phone hacking: seventy more high profile claimants to sue Trinity Mirror | Related: Phone hacking: seventy more high profile claimants to sue Trinity Mirror |
| Speaking less than two hours after the judgment by Mr Justice Mann, Fox told the Guardian: “The parents of the kids killed [in a Thomas Cook hotel] received £350,000 [in compensation]. Is it right that for hacking infringements someone should get close to that? That’s an interesting question.” | Speaking less than two hours after the judgment by Mr Justice Mann, Fox told the Guardian: “The parents of the kids killed [in a Thomas Cook hotel] received £350,000 [in compensation]. Is it right that for hacking infringements someone should get close to that? That’s an interesting question.” |
| Although it admitted liability in each of the eight cases covering a period between 1999 and 2010, Trinity Mirror had offered far lower sums as compensation. The previous record for a privacy payout was the £60,000 recieved by Max Mosley in 2007. | Although it admitted liability in each of the eight cases covering a period between 1999 and 2010, Trinity Mirror had offered far lower sums as compensation. The previous record for a privacy payout was the £60,000 recieved by Max Mosley in 2007. |
| Fox said that Trinity Mirror was not keen to delay proceedings but that an appeal could be used to question the new benchmark for privacy cases that had been set. | Fox said that Trinity Mirror was not keen to delay proceedings but that an appeal could be used to question the new benchmark for privacy cases that had been set. |
| “Prolonging this case is not in our interests, nor the interests of the claimants. It’s the last thing I want to do. However, I do need to be cognisant that these will set a benchmark for future claims.” | “Prolonging this case is not in our interests, nor the interests of the claimants. It’s the last thing I want to do. However, I do need to be cognisant that these will set a benchmark for future claims.” |
| The sums awarded were “more substantial than any privacy case, more substantial than many libel cases. We will consider whether they are appropriate. At first glance we have some significant questions about the basis by which the damages were set...” | The sums awarded were “more substantial than any privacy case, more substantial than many libel cases. We will consider whether they are appropriate. At first glance we have some significant questions about the basis by which the damages were set...” |
| Fox refused to discuss how many complaints have been lodged though lawyers and campaign group Hacked Off suggest that with 78 filed to date, more than 100 are likely to come forward after Thursday’s verdict. | Fox refused to discuss how many complaints have been lodged though lawyers and campaign group Hacked Off suggest that with 78 filed to date, more than 100 are likely to come forward after Thursday’s verdict. |
| Following the judgment, Trinity Mirror said that it had increased the money set aside to deal with the payouts from £12m to £28m. Although that sum should cover existing complaints, Fox said there remained uncertainty, adding: “I simply can’t make a judgment about how many people may yet come forward.” | Following the judgment, Trinity Mirror said that it had increased the money set aside to deal with the payouts from £12m to £28m. Although that sum should cover existing complaints, Fox said there remained uncertainty, adding: “I simply can’t make a judgment about how many people may yet come forward.” |
| Trinity Mirror is expected to pay legal costs for any forthcoming criminal trials concerning past employees and Fox admitted that the “risk remains” of the company facing corporate negligence charges. | Trinity Mirror is expected to pay legal costs for any forthcoming criminal trials concerning past employees and Fox admitted that the “risk remains” of the company facing corporate negligence charges. |
| “I will obviously be very disappointed if the police choose to pursue corporate [charges] given our cooperation,” he said. | “I will obviously be very disappointed if the police choose to pursue corporate [charges] given our cooperation,” he said. |
| But the chief executive refused to criticise predecessors at the tabloid publisher. | But the chief executive refused to criticise predecessors at the tabloid publisher. |
| In contrast, the judgment was highly critical of public denials of phone hacking made by Mirror employees all the way up to former chief executive Sly Bailey. In her evidence to the Leveson inquiry, Bailey said she had seen no evidence of phone hacking and that it was not healthy to “go around conducting investigations”. | |
| Mann pointed out that the allegations of hacking made by journalist David Brown in 2007 at an employment tribunal “might be thought of as being some evidence”. | |
| Although Mann added he could not “make a finding on” whether or not Bailey had personal knowledge of phone hacking, he went on to say that it was “inconceivable” that, given the scope of the inquiry itself, some “senior journalists and executives giving evidence... did not know about it”. | |
| The company’s repeated denials were considered as part of the aggravating damages award. | |
| Fox said he had first started an investigation when the first civil complaints were made towards the end of 2012. These were then “ramped up” after the first arrests of Trinity Mirror staff were made in March 2013. “Had the sort of investigation we have done now been done earlier, that would have been a good thing,” he said. | Fox said he had first started an investigation when the first civil complaints were made towards the end of 2012. These were then “ramped up” after the first arrests of Trinity Mirror staff were made in March 2013. “Had the sort of investigation we have done now been done earlier, that would have been a good thing,” he said. |
| He said that an earlier investigation had involved asking senior journalists to sign a letter denying their engagement in hacking. | He said that an earlier investigation had involved asking senior journalists to sign a letter denying their engagement in hacking. |
| With the 300-plus page report still open on his desk, Fox said: “There is much I agree with and a number of things I’m concerned about.” These included criticism of the cross-examination of complainants and the letter of apology from Trinity Mirror. | With the 300-plus page report still open on his desk, Fox said: “There is much I agree with and a number of things I’m concerned about.” These included criticism of the cross-examination of complainants and the letter of apology from Trinity Mirror. |
| “This is a terrible stain on us and the wider industry. It happened years ago but our reputation has been tarnished. That’s extremely concerning.” | “This is a terrible stain on us and the wider industry. It happened years ago but our reputation has been tarnished. That’s extremely concerning.” |