Ronan Keating accepts ‘substantial damages’ over phone hacking
The singer Ronan Keating has accepted “substantial damages” from the publisher of the News of the World over phone hacking.
Keating, known for being part of Irish boyband Boyzone and his subsequent solo career, brought legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) in April 2020, claiming his voicemail messages had been intercepted by its journalists.
At a hearing in London on Monday, the high court heard the singer had identified a number of suspicious articles published between 1996 and 2011 that he said contained private information.
Ellen Gallagher, representing Keating, told the court: “Mr Keating claimed that his voicemail messages were intercepted by the defendant’s journalists and consequently these journalists were privy to private and confidential voicemail messages left on his mobile telephone by others, such as his family and friends.”
Keating, who became a permanent presenter on BBC One’s The One Show in May, also claimed NGN had obtained his personal information through deception.
Gallagher added: “Mr Keating further asserted that, as a result of the defendant’s publications, he became suspicious as to who might be the source of the private information that was being published in the defendant’s newspapers.
“Mr Keating alleged that the publication of the articles generated distrust which impacted on his relationships and caused him considerable distress and upset.”
At the hearing before Mr Justice Fancourt, the court was told Keating had accepted NGN’s offer to settle his claim. As part of the settlement, NGN has agreed to pay “substantial damages” to Keating, as well as his reasonable legal costs.
“The defendant has agreed to join in this statement to apologise to Mr Keating publicly for the distress caused to him by the invasion of his privacy by individuals working for or on behalf of the News of the World,” Gallagher said.
NGN did not admit any liability in relation to allegations of phone hacking