Murdoch gives £1m to charities Milly Dowler would have supported
Rupert Murdoch will give £1 million to six British charities in a bid to settle with the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
The payout, funded from the tycoon's personal fortune, is part of a £3 million deal agreed with the parents of Milly, who was targeted by private investigators working for the News of the World while she was missing in 2002.
Bob and Sally Dowler have approved a £100,000 donation to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which does work on violent crime prevention and is named after the London estate agent who disappeared 25 years ago. It has worked with the Dowler family for years.
Other windfalls include £500,000 to The Shooting Star Children's Hospice in Hampton Hill, close to the Dowler family home, and £100,000 to Milly's local swimming pool, the Hampton Pool Trust.
Payments of £100,000 will go to Child Victims Of Crime, Cancer Research and Brain Tumour UK. Mark Lewis, lawyer and spokesman for the Dowler family, said: "Bob and Sally made it clear at the outset that any damages in respect of Milly should be donated to charitable causes that she would have wished to support. These donations will provide a fitting legacy.
"All the beneficiaries have some link to Milly herself. The donation to Cancer Research and the brain tumour charity are because her godfather, unfortunately, died as a very young man from a brain tumour."
Murdoch-owned News International was rocked in July when it emerged the News of the World had employed private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to hack into the 13-year-old's voicemails.
The disclosure was described as a "tipping point" in the scandal. Within weeks, NI chief executive Rebekah Brooks, Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Les Hinton, Rupert Murdoch's right-hand man, had all resigned.
Under an out-of-court settlement to be announced shortly, Milly's family will get about £2 million in personal damages and Mr Murdoch will make a £1 million gift to charities.
Daphne Wharton, chairwoman of Hampton Pool Trust, said: "I'd like to thank the Dowler family. The donation will make a huge impact."
