Ronan Keating agrees 'substantial' settlement in phone-hacking case

Ronan Keating has accepted "substantial damages" from the publisher of the News of The World due to phone-hacking from 1996 to 2011 today.

The payment to Keating, best known as a former member of Boyzone, is a result of legal action started in April 2020 after he believed journalists at News Group Newspapers (NGN) intercepted his voicemails in the past.

On Monday, a London court heard that the singer and now co-host of The One Show on the BBC had found many "suspicious" articles that he deemed contained private information.

Ellen Gallagher, representing him, stated that "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."

She added "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.”

News of the World was a well-known UK red-top tabloid newspaper that ceased publication in July 2011 after high profile phone-hacking scandals and corruption.

In its final editorial, the paper said, "Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry... there is no justification for this appalling wrongdoing."