20 people, which include British celebrity Peter Andre and the personal assistant of actor Jude Law, has pursued legal action against Mirror Group newspapers over phone hacking charges. The Guardian said that ten more have already expressed their intentions to follow suit for similar claims.
The counsel for the plaintiffs, David Sherborne, told a judge that the other claimants include actor Christopher Eccleston and the BBC's creative director Alan Yentob. Several others were Cilla Black, presenter Davina McCall, "EastEnders" actor Jessie Wallace, and the former wife of ex-football star Paul Gascoigne. Katie price's husband Peter Andre, actor Darren Day and Cilla Black's son, Robert Willis also sued the publishing group.
The barrister reportedly disclosed the latest figures at the beginning of a case management hearing in relation to the proceedings brought against the publisher of the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror. Justice Mann has been asked to decide on how the case should proceed. The UK paper said a trial is expected to happen on February next year.
Mann, who is overseeing the phone-hacking litigation, refused to throw out the claims that were brought against the Mirror group by former Garry Flitcroft, and former nanny to David and Victoria Beckham, Abbie Gibson. He also reportedly dismissed the applications to strike out some parts of the claims bought by former England football manager Sven-Göran Erikssonn and "Coronation Street" actor Shobna Gulati.
A Trinity Mirror spokesman said about the claims, "Trinity Mirror can confirm that it is aware of some 20 claims that have been issued against MGN Ltd alleging phone hacking. We continue to investigate the basis of these claims and no further comments can be made at this stage."
The Mirror Group is not the only publishing company who has been sued over phone hacking claims. The Guardian said court documents indicated that there are 37 claims lodged ahead of a court deadline in January against the newspapers of the beleaguered News Corp, the Sun and the already shuttered News of the World. Sources at the British unit of News Corp said several of the claims have been settled out of court.
