Comedian Steve Coogan has received a six-figure sum in damages from Mirror Group Newspapers after it admitted hacking his phone.
Speaking after the High Court judgement today, the Alan Partridge actor said that most of the money would be distributed to good causes.
It follows an action for misuse of private information, and Coogan described the outcome as “vindication”.
Coogan’s counsel, David Sherborne, said the case related to 62 articles that were “likely” to have been produced by phone hacking.
“Much of what was published caused enormous distress and significant damage to Mr Coogan’s relationships with those he wrongly suspected had leaked private information or who believed he was the cause of their private information being made public,” he said.
Lawyers representing MGN, which is part of Trinity Mirror, said it “acknowledges that Mr Coogan was the target of unlawful activities and that these activities were concealed until years later”.
They added: “MGN apologises to Mr Coogan and accepts that he and other victims should not have been denied the truth for so long.”
Phone-hacking claims have already been settled with celebrities including Jeffrey Archer, Natasha Kaplinsky and Kevin Keegan.
Trinity Mirror has set aside more than £50m to cover the costs of the scandal.
