The former Newcastle United and England footballer, Kieron Dyer, has received an apology at the high court after settling his phone-hacking case against the Daily Mirror in return for a financial payout.
The Mirror’s owners, MGN Limited, admitted to unlawfully intercepting Dyer’s voicemails between March 2003 and December 2004, and using private investigators to unlawfully obtain private information on eight occasions between 2003 and 2005.
In a statement read in court in central London on Wednesday, MGN apologised for damage and distress caused to Dyer by the misuse of his private information, adding: “MGN accepts and acknowledges that the claimant’s private information should not have been obtained and used in the manner it was.”
Dyer’s claim against MGN Limited related to articles published in the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People, alleging unlawful activity from 1998 to 2011. He cited 63 articles published about him in MGN newspapers and various invoices or payment records of private investigators relating to him and his associates. The settlement statement said MGN denied – or did not admit – that the articles were the product of unlawful information-gathering activities.
It said Dyer, who was capped 33 times by England, felt his career, reputation and mental health were affected by the “horrible” experience, which left him feeling ridiculed. He was followed by journalists and photographers, doorstepped at his home and approached on nights out, it said.
“The claimant also recalled that, on a weekly basis when he would go somewhere, either alone or with close friends and family, photographers were waiting at the locations he visited,” the statement said. “This led to the claimant questioning relationships with close friends and family and suffering from a complete lack of trust in all of his associates. As a result, the claimant’s family suffered distress.
“The claimant was upset at the time that the articles were published containing his private information. He found that as a result of the publication of the articles, his relationships with the public, colleagues, friends and family suffered and sometimes he ‘lost their trust’ and was not put in a positive light.”
Rebekah Finch, the legal director of the law firm TLT, which represented Dyer, said: “This is a milestone achievement for Kieron who has been litigating for almost six years and waited a very long time for this outcome. It’s impossible to imagine the impact of MGN’s conduct. These actions have had lifelong consequences on his wellbeing, and we’re pleased that we were able to reach this settlement for him in recognition of the harm caused.”
As part of the settlement, MGN also provided an undertaking to Dyer, who works as a TV and radio pundit, not to access or attempt to access voicemails left for or by him or otherwise illegally obtain his private information and agreed to pay his reasonable legal costs.
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The settlement comes just under a year after Prince Harry won substantial damages against MGN, with a high court judge ruling that there was “extensive” phone hacking by MGN from 2006 to 2011, “even to some extent” during the Leveson inquiry into media standards.
Mr Justice Fancourt also found that unlawful information gathering was “widespread” at all three Mirror Group titles, while the use of private investigators was an “integral part of the system”.
