News International has offered an unreserved apology and an admission of liability to some of the public figures suing it over the News of World phone hacking allegations, the company said today.
It emerged last month that the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper wa set to face compensation demands for over £100 million for the illegal interception of voicemail messages to politicians, sportspeople and TV stars.
The company has asked its lawyers to establish "a compensation scheme with a view to dealing with justifiable claims fairly and efficiently", it said in a statement issued today.
In 2007, the newspaper’s then-royal correspondent Clive Goodman, and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were jailed after they pleaded guilty to intercepting messages meant for staff in Prince Charles’s Clarence House.