Heather Mills has been awarded the highest media libel settlement in UK history following a claim against the News of the World. Along with her sister Fiona Mills, the pair received an apology at a hearing in London. The sisters' claims were settled on the basis that News Group Newspapers (NGN) made no admission of liability in relation to their allegations of voicemail interceptions and other unlawful information which was obtained at The Sun. Heather spoke of how the phone hacking had "an extremely detrimental impact on my personal life and that of my family," she added that it had also impacted her charity's ability to raise funds.
Heather Mills was awarded a record payout following the phone hacking scandal
In the hearing, Heather and Fiona described the "strange activity" within their phones, that resulted in journalists and photographers turning up in unexpected locations. The situation caused for them to suspect their family and friends were betraying them and selling private information to the press.
Heather Mills spoke out after the court hearing on Monday
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In a statement outside the court, Heather said: "My motivation to win this decade-long fight stemmed from a desire to obtain justice, not only for my family, my charities and myself, but for the thousands of innocent members of public, who like me, have suffered similar ignominious, criminal treatment at the hands of one of the world's most powerful media groups." She added: "This is the end for now – unless anything else pops up."
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Ben Silverstone speaking on behalf of NGN 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. 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."
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