Thread by @HackedOffHugh

For anyone who has been interested in my lawsuit against the Sun, the news is that  I’ve had to settle my claim out of court before it gets to trial. A 🧵…

News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing - phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and the destruction of evidence.

As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court.

I don’t want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court.

But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court  awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.

My lawyers tell me that that is exactly what would most likely happen here.  Rupert Murdoch’s lawyers are very expensive. So even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching £10 million in costs. I’m afraid I am shying at that fence.

Rupert Murdoch has spent over £1billon in damages to claimants and in lawyers’ fees, settling over 1500 claims in this way. He seems remarkably determined that there shouldn’t be a trial of the facts.

Murdoch’s settlement money has a stink and I refuse to let this be hush money.  I have spent the best part of 12 years fighting for a free press that does not distort the truth,

abuse ordinary members of the public or hold elected MPs to ransom in pursuit of newspaper barons’ personal profit and political power.

So this money will repurposed via groups like Hacked Off into the general campaign to expose the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press.

I’d like to thank my legal team, Anjlee Sangani, David Sherborne, Evan Harris and Dan Waddell.

I’d also like to thank the courageous whistle-blowers who came over from the other side, and other brave witnesses who are providing much of the evidence, including

Dan Evans, Emma Jones, Steve Whittamore, Danno Hanks and Glenn Mulcaire.  I particularly want to acknowledge

the work and sacrifices of Graham Johnson in the face of unfair attacks from those on the other side who are seeking to stop the truth coming out. End of 🧵