Lawsuits from singer Craig David, designer Kelly Hoppen and former soccer player John Fashanu, and 29 more individuals are the latest received by the UK unit of News Corp over phone hacking allegations. The new plaintiffs are seeking to participate in a civil trial that will be held in June this year, Bloomberg said in a report.
Over the past three years, the newspapers of News Corp had been the center of investigations as alleged bribery and phone hacking had been uncovered at two of its tabloids, the UK news outlet said. It was noted that News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch shuttered its weekly News of the World back in 2011 after it was discovered that its journalists had accessed messages of a murdered school girl's mobile phone. Former editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson and five others are currently on trial and will be charged in a criminal court in relation to the probe.
Bloomberg said that previous civic trials had to be postponed as the media conglomerate managed to reach settlements with celebrity, politician and athlete complainants at the last possible minute. Several of them had claimed that their phones were accessed illegally by one of its businesses, News of the World.
For one, Hoppen, who is also the stepmother of actress Sienna Miller, settled a claim extended earlier by News Corp in 2001 worth £60,000 or about $98,000. Hoppen's recent lawsuit however, was spurred after an ex-reporter for the News of the World at the criminal trial testified last week that he hacked her phone in order to gain a story on the UK actress.
Despite the numerous lawsuits it is facing, the Los Angeles Times said Rupert Murdoch enjoyed a bit of good news. his publishing company, which includes Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Times of London and HarperCollins book publishing, reported better fiscal second-quarter earnings despite slowing advertising revenue growth.
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