Heather Mills wins High Court apology after phone hacking claim against News of the World

The model ex-wife of Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has won a High Court apology after settling her legal claim over phone hacking at the News of the World.

Heather Mills, 51, sued the publisher of the now-disgraced Sunday tabloid over claims that she and her sister Fiona Mills’ privacy had been invaded.

The legal claim was settled with the payment of “substantial” damages in February, and this morning the media firm, which also publishes The Sun, issued a public apology at the High Court.

Ben Silverstone, for News Group Newspapers, said: “The defendant is here today, through me, to offer its sincere apologies to Ms Heather Mills and Ms Fiona Mills for the distress caused to them by the invasion of their privacy by individuals working for or on behalf of the News of the World.

Ms Mills said she and 90 others had received a 'record' libel payout
PA

“The defendant accepts that such activity should never have taken place and that it had no right to intrude into the private lives of Ms Heather Mills or Fiona Mills in this way.”

Ms Mills’ lawyer, David Sherborne, said the former model turned campaigner was “profoundly upset” when she found out about the hacking, and added subsequent stories had a “seriously corrosive effect” on relationships with friends and family.

The media company made no admission of liability in relation to claims of voicemail hacking at The Sun.

Outside court, Ms Mills claimed she and 90 other phone hacking victims had been “awarded the highest media libel settlement in British legal history”.

She said News Group had offered “a complete and unmitigated apology for the criminal, targeted smear campaign waged against us - including hacking, invasion of privacy, and the publication of countless falsehoods and lies between 1999 and 2010."

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