James Murdoch: hack victim's payout sparks queries over hush-money denial

[seafan]

Source: UK Guardian

James Murdoch appears to have given misleading parliamentary testimony about a key phone-hacking cover-up, according to evidence obtained by the Guardian.

Rupert Murdoch's son sought to deny that "astronomic sums" had been secretly paid out to a hacking victim as hush-money. He told MPs the company's legal advice was that the likely award of damages was £250,000, and that this explained the size of a confidential payout he agreed could be paid in 2008 to hacking victim Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the footballers' union the PFA.

But full details of the legal negotiations obtained by the Guardian show that in fact Murdoch's company executives paid far more than that to buy Taylor's silence. After consulting James Murdoch, they eventually agreed to pay £425,000 damages, almost twice as much as the alleged likely award.

With Taylor's legal costs at £220,000, and their own solicitors' fees of some £300,000, the total cost to the News of the World to keep the case out of court amounted to almost £1m.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/20/james-murdoch-gordon-taylor-payoff

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Unfolding at the speed of light.

[Kingofalldems]

1. Can't wait til it gets here--and it will

[Oceansaway]

2. k & r...nt

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, seafan.

[seafan]

4. Gordon Taylor case: 'NOTW was willing to pay almost any price to hush up the case.'

(Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the footballers' union the PFA, himself a hacking victim of News of the World.)


David Leigh and Nick Davies report in the Guardian:

Wednesday 20 July 2011 21.32 BST

.....

Sources familiar with the negotiations say that not only was the size of the settlement to be kept confidential, but that News International also got an agreement that the very fact of a confidential settlement was also to be kept confidential.

This was so unusual that a special court hearing by a judicial figure, Deputy Master Mark, had to be held in September 2008, before it was agreed that the court file could be sealed, because it possibly contained evidence of criminal behaviour.

.....

James did not explain to the MPs why he was willing to pay far more than the going rate in damages to keep the case out of the public courtroom. On his version of events, the company ended up paying just as much to stop the case as if they had gone on to make a fight of it and lost. In commercial terms, the deal apparently made no sense.

The history of the negotiations was as follows, according to the Guardian's evidence. It appears to show the News of the World was willing to pay almost any price to hush up the case.

.....

News International chairman, James Murdoch. Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters


'That's a good question, and I'm glad you asked it. I know nothing about this. I just signed the payoff.'

[SpiralHawk]

5. Wow - the Republicon lies are fast and furious

Soooo loooowwww...

[Kingofalldems]

6. Never trust a republican---incredibly sneaky and dishonest.

And this covers the globe.

[Kingofalldems]

7. Hush money? Wow, just like Watergate.

[cbdo2007]

8. Cool, so do they have perjury charges over there?

Or do they just throw fish and chips at you or something?

[dipsydoodle]

9. perjury?

Been on google since that occured