Former Town midfielder Kieron Dyer has received an apology and a financial payout from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) after settling his phone-hacking case at the high court earlier today.

Ipswich-born Dyer, 45, sued MGN in 2018 regarding claims that between 1998 and 2011 its publications carried out unlawful information gathering and misused his private information, citing 63 articles published in the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, as well as invoices and payment records of private investigators relating to him or associates.

In court today, MGN Ltd admitted that between March 2003 and December 2004 they unlawfully intercepted the then-Newcastle and England player’s voicemails as well as utilising private investigators to access private information on eight separate occasions, although denied or did not admit that the articles were the product of the unlawful activity.

In a statement read out in court, Alex Pollock for MGN said: “The defendant is here today, through me, to offer its apologies to the claimant for the damage and distress caused to him by the misuse of his private information over a decade ago on the occasions referred to.

“MGN accepts and acknowledges that the claimant’s private information should not have been obtained and used in the manner it was.”

Rebekah Finch, the legal director of TLT, who acted for 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.”

A statement from Finch’s firm, TLT, added: “The claim focused on articles published in MGN’s national newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, and alleged unlawful activity, from 1998 to 2011.

Mr Dyer asserted that his voicemail messages were intercepted by MGN’s journalists who were consequently privy to private and confidential voicemail messages from family and friends leading to the publication of articles in MGN’s newspapers.

“MGN has admitted to unlawfully intercepting Mr Dyer’s voicemails between March 2003 and December 2004, and using private investigators to unlawfully obtain private information on eight occasions in 2003 and 2005. However, MGN denied, or did not admit, that the articles were the product of unlawful information gathering activities.

“Mr Dyer was significantly impacted by press intrusion at the time and remembers being followed and approached by journalists and photographers at his family home and on nights out.

“He feels that the articles published by MGN led to significant distress and have had a negative impact on his private life, including his relationship with the public, colleagues, friends and family, whilst also damaging his career.

“Mr Dyer feels this led to a lack of trust in those close to him. It also impacted his mental health, he described the experience as ‘horrible’ and that he felt ‘ridiculed’.”

As part of the settlement, MGN has also provided an undertaking 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.

Dyer is currently working as a first-team coach under ex-Blues boss Paul Cook at League Two Chesterfield.

In 2018, former Town chief executive Simon Clegg settled a phone-hacking claim against News Group Newspapers, receiving an apology and financial settlement.

Photo: Action Images

Edmundo added 17:41 - Nov 20 As if he hasn't been through enough, these gutter press journalists drag him through the courts before accepting they actually did it.
3

bobble added 19:57 - Nov 20 The press owners need to be imprisoned, allowi g them to settle means they get away with it, rich people avoid the law...
2

Radlett_blue added 10:34 - Nov 21 And nothing to do with then Editor, Piers Morgan? And actually "phone hacking" is a misnomer; what they were doing was accessing voicemails held on a central server, which wasn't very hard if you knew the person's mobile number & could guess their password, which was often 1,2,3,4.
1

Cadiar added 12:23 - Nov 21 Unfortunately this is how the British Press works. A recent example is the reporting of the Maccabi fans in Amsterdam making them the victims not the culprits. They can retract their comments but the damage is already done, I know people who haven't actually heard what happened in Amsterdam & are still sympathising with the Maccabi fans.
2

dirtydingusmagee added 12:17 - Nov 22 Good for him ,
0

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls