• Who-we-are-banner

    News

Phone hacking: Charles Russell Speechlys achieves settlement for celebrity clients from Mirror Group Newspapers

min read

Charles Russell Speechlys can today confirm the settlement of privacy claims for unlawful voicemail interception on behalf of six clients, including TV personalities, Alexander Clunes (known professionally as Martin Clunes), Caroline Quentin, Antony Cotton, Mark Womack and Samantha Womack and businessman Sam Farmer.

Duncan Lamont (Consultant), Gabrielle Shovlin (Associate), Hannah Gornall (Associate) and Sydney Lee (Apprentice) assisted their clients in achieving these successful settlements.

The claims were brought against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) publisher of The Mirror and The People. A settlement has now been agreed and includes an undertaking by MGN not to intercept the Claimants’ voicemail messages, to pay compensation to the Claimants, and join in a statement in open Court to apologise to the Claimants for the misuse of their private information.

The public apologies were made today in the Commercial Court in London. Hannah Gornall and Gabrielle Shovlin were in Court today to read the statements on behalf of the Claimants “for the distress caused to [them] by obtaining private information about [them] and using that information”.

Duncan Lamont, Consultant, Charles Russell Speechlys, says:

“We are pleased that we have been able to assist our clients in resolving their disputes with MGN and that the publisher has made a public apology to our clients”

Our thinking

  • Virtual Currency Regulation: United Arab Emirates

    Sara Sheffield

    Insights

    min read
  • IBA Annual Conference 2026

    Jean-Baptiste Beauvoir-Planson

    Events

  • France Modernises Its Arbitration Law: What Does Decree No. 2026-741 Change?

    Simon Le Wita

    Insights

    min read
  • Disclosing Settlement Agreements in Due Diligence: Navigating Confidentiality and Risk

    Hannah Gornall

    Insights

    min read
  • Cryptocurrency crime in Switzerland

    Pierre Bydzovsky

    Insights

    min read
  • Shareholder Strategies: A practical guide to just and equitable winding up

    Emilie Brammer

    Insights

    min read
  • Norwich Pharmacal Orders and Bankers Trust Orders: A Practical Guide to Obtaining Information and Tracing Assets

    Martha Lazanakis

    Insights

    min read
  • Rachel Warren and Charlotte Healy write in the Law Society Gazette about the new corporate liability for criminal offences committed by senior managers

    Rachel Warren

    In the Press

    min read
  • Arbitration of Trust Disputes Webinar

    Thomas R. Snider

    Events

    min read
  • Caveat Venditor?: Fraudulent Misrepresentation in Sale and Purchase Agreements

    Emilie Brammer

    Insights

    min read
  • Restraint and Confiscation Orders in England and Wales

    Jana Billington

    Insights

    min read
  • Henry Winter and Jeffrey Lee write in Hubbis about arbitration and cross-border family wealth in Asia

    Henry Winter

    In the Press

    min read
  • Costs in DIFC Employment Cases: Two New Decisions Confirm the Strength of Practice Direction 1/2025

    Peter Smith

    Quick Reads

    min read
  • Kerry Stares, Rory Partridge and Lyla Gilbert write in Sustainable Views about how sustainable packaging is becoming a condition of EU market access

    Kerry Stares

    In the Press

    min read
  • Pay Up or We'll Tell All: The High Court's Firm Stance on Blackmail in Privacy Cases

    Hannah Gornall

    Quick Reads

    min read
  • Fowl Play: Lessons from Lux Films Ltd v Fowler & Anor [2026] EWHC 963 (KB)

    Claudine Morgan

    Insights

    min read
  • Genuine Belief Is Not Enough: Supreme Court Confirms Section 172 Demands Good Faith in Conduct, Not Just Thought

    Claudine Morgan

    Insights

    min read
  • Why the UK-India Trade Deal Matters for Private Capital

    Kim Lalli

    Quick Reads

    min read
  • Can you terminate an “indefinite” trade mark licence even if there’s no express right to do so?

    Isabella Ross-Skinner

    Insights

    min read
  • Kerry Stares, Rory Partridge, and Lyla Gilbert write in Packaging Europe about landmark reforms on packaging sustainability regulations in the UK and Europe

    Kerry Stares

    In the Press

    min read
Back to top