Heather Mills considers suing NoW

Sir Paul McCartney’s former wife could join string of celebrities taking legal action, including Sienna Miller and Jude Law Heather Mills is considering suing the News of the World for breach of privacy over alleged phone hacking, joining the dozens of public figures who have either started legal proceedings against the paper or are considering doing so. The former model, best known for her four-year marriage to Sir Paul McCartney, has met with the Metropolitan police, who have shown her evidence seized from private investigator Glenn Mulcaire which could form the basis of a claim. Detectives are in the process of contacting hundreds of potential phone-hacking victims, most of whom are listed in Mulcaire’s notebooks, which cover his activities in 2005 and 2006. He was working exclusively for the News of the World at the time. It is understood that Mills’s name and mobile phone number are listed in Mulcaire’s notes along with those of her friends and associates. Mills and her younger sister Fiona are both considering filing writs in the high court against News Group, the News International subsidiary that publishes the News of the World. Mills’s solicitor, Mark Thomson of Atkins Thomson, declined to comment. In recent weeks, the Guardian has revealed that several high profile figures have threatened to sue the paper, part of Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group News International, following meetings with Scotland Yard. They include footballer Wayne Rooney and his agent Paul Stretford . It was reported on Thursday that Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole has also issued proceedings, as have actor Jude Law and a solicitor who has represented him. Law had already attached his name to a high court action brought by his former partner Sienna Miller, but has now issued separate proceedings, according to the Independent. The paper quoted Graham Shear, a solictor at Berwin Leighton, Paisner: “The police came to see me and alerted me that I was the subject of, or appeared to be the subject of, phone hacking relating to a client or clients during 2004 and 2005. We are currently awaiting additional disclosure from the police and from News Group and cross-referencing with other victims of phone hacking.” Mills has been the subject of intense tabloid interest since she began a relationship with McCartney in 1999 after meeting him at the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards. Six years ago, at the time Mulcaire was allegedly taking notes of her mobile phone number, her marriage to McCartney was breaking up. The News of the World revealed in May 2006 that Mills had moved out of McCartney’s home. That followed months of speculation about the state of the couple’s relationship. Mills subsequently moved in with her sister. The couple divorced in February 2008 following a high court hearing at which Mills represented herself. News International has tried to bring an end to the hacking saga by offering to settle a number of the claimants who are pursuing civil cases. So far, none have chosen to do so. The high court has heard evidence from solicitors acting for Andy Gray and football agent Sky Andrew, two of at least 20 people who have started legal proceedings against News Group and Mulcaire, about the way the investigator allegedly targeted their clients. He had a habit of listing people of interest, along with other information including their mobile phone voicemail number and passwords, in his notes, often alongside the first name of the News of the World journalist who commissioned him. •

Posted by on May 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.