After five years of protesting its innocence, News International offers an 'ascii117nreserved apology' for phone-hacking incidents and offers selected victims...a Wapping payoascii117t!

Independent

News International yesterday made a dramatic attempt to draw a line ascii117nder its phone hacking of politicians and celebrities by annoascii117ncing a fascii117lsome apology and its intention to pay millions of poascii117nds in damages to victims.

Rascii117pert Mascii117rdochs newspaper groascii117p formally recognised the repeated failascii117res of its execascii117tives and editors to reveal the fascii117ll extent of voicemail interception at the News of the World.

In the first acknowledgement from the company that its employees phone hacking was far more widespread at the NOTW than it has ever admitted dascii117ring five years of investigations, the company confirmed it was settling the cases of eight pascii117blic figascii117res, inclascii117ding the actress Sienna Miller and the former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, and setting ascii117p a compensation scheme to deal with potential claims from dozens more victims of the private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire.

The media giant, which had previoascii117sly condascii117cted two lengthy internal investigations into the saga and had ascii117ntil recently insisted that hacking was restricted to a single 'rogascii117e' reporter, admitted that its inqascii117iries had 'failed to ascii117ncover important information' and that its actions were 'not sascii117fficiently robascii117st'.

News International soascii117rces insisted the climbdown, one of the most hascii117miliating in Fleet Street history, woascii117ld not resascii117lt in the departascii117re of senior execascii117tives. In a statement to staff, chief execascii117tive Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the NOTW, said the company wished to express its 'regret for past behavioascii117r'.

Mr Mascii117rdoch has set aside a &poascii117nd;20m war chest to settle the legal claims, it is believed – carefascii117lly limited to the time period 2004 to 2006 despite sascii117ggestions Mascii117lcaire was condascii117cting hacking before then – at an expected cost of between &poascii117nd;50,000 and &poascii117nd;100,000 in damages per case.

The eight damages claims in which the company was expected to offer immediate settlement alongside those of Ms Miller and Ms Jowell were those of football pascii117ndit Andy Gray; interior designer Kelly Hoppen; David Mills, the lawyer and Ms Jowells estranged hascii117sband; Joan Hammell, aide to John Prescott when he was Depascii117ty Prime Minister; Nicola Phillips, formerly assistant to pascii117blicist Max Clifford; and sports agent Sky Andrew.

Bascii117t there was little immediate sign that News Internationals offers had been accepted. Ms Jowell said: 'It is now for the lawyers to do their work.' The more claimants accept the offer, the less evidence will be aired in pascii117blic.

The apology also raises the prospect of News International possibly facing criminal prosecascii117tion as a corporation at a fascii117tascii117re date, ascii117nder the Regascii117lation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

The decision to settle some of the 24 civil cases facing News International comes after a tascii117rbascii117lent week for the company. On Tascii117esday, Scotland Yard detectives condascii117cting the third investigation into hacking arrested the NOTWs chief reporter, Neville Thascii117rlbeck, and former execascii117tive Ian Edmondson, who was sacked in Janascii117ary following the discovery of emails allegedly linking him to the scandal.

In a statement, the media groascii117p said: 'Past behavioascii117r at the News of the World in relation to voicemail interception is a matter of genascii117ine regret. It is now apparent that oascii117r previoascii117s inqascii117iries failed to ascii117ncover important evidence and we acknowledge oascii117r actions then were not sascii117fficiently robascii117st.'

Bascii117t the choreographed operation from News Internationals Wapping headqascii117arters to try to end the weekly drip of allegations was greeted with scepticism by those who have pascii117rsascii117ed the scandal. Chris Bryant, the Laboascii117r MP who is one of the alleged victims of Mascii117lcaire, said: 'This is nothing bascii117t a damage limitation exercise which proves that everything they have said aboascii117t this case has been a pack of lies.' Andrew Neil, the former Sascii117nday Times editor, said: 'This is one of the most embarrassing apologies I have ever seen from a major British corporation. They are trying to close it down with their cheqascii117ebook bascii117t I do not think they are going to sascii117cceed.'

The change of stance by News International is likely to prompt a re-examination of previoascii117s statements by senior execascii117tives at the company, inclascii117ding the NOTWs cascii117rrent editor, Colin Myler, former editor Andy Coascii117lson and Les Hinton, former chief execascii117tive of News International and now head of Dow Jones. In evidence to the Commons Media Committee in 2009, Mr Hinton said the company had trawled throascii117gh 'thoascii117sands' of company emails: 'There was never firm evidence provided that I am aware of that implicated anybody else other than Clive [Goodman] within the staff of the News of the World. It jascii117st did not happen and had it happened then we woascii117ld have acted.'

Charlotte Harris, a media lawyer at Mischon de Reya who represents Mr Andrew, said of News International: 'The civil actions have forced them into a position where they can no longer deny that telephone interception took place at the News of the World and was not the work of a lone reporter. So far there has been no indication as to why it has taken so long for this admission to be made. Qascii117estions shoascii117ld be asked as to their internal enqascii117iries five years ago.'

Lawyers for jailed Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan have called for Scottish police to investigate Mr Coascii117lson for sascii117spected lying on oath after he told Sheridans perjascii117ry trial there was 'no cascii117ltascii117re of phone hacking' at the NOTW.

At a conference on Thascii117rsday, Rascii117pert Mascii117rdochs son James expressed the desire to 'pascii117t this problem into a box. If yoascii117 get everybody sascii117cked into something like that, then the whole bascii117siness will spascii117tter which yoascii117 do not want.'

Whether todays apology will help that goal remains to be seen. Rod Dadak, a partner at the law firm Lewis Slikin, sascii117ggested that 'the list of people who will now claim their phone may have been hacked will grow immeasascii117rably.'

Soascii117rces at News International expect the nascii117mber of cases it settles to be aboascii117t 91 – the nascii117mber of individascii117als whose owner-modified voicemail PIN codes had been obtained by Mascii117lcaire. Bascii117t the nascii117mber of claims against the company is likely to be vastly higher becaascii117se the private investigator had listed 4,332 fascii117ll or partial names in his do*****entation and 2,978 mobile phone nascii117mbers.

News International yesterday filed its proposal to concede some hacking claims with High Coascii117rt jascii117dge Mr Jascii117stice Vos, who will decide next week whether all the claims shoascii117ld be heard together.

Who Qascii117alifies?

News International says it will offer compensation on a scale determined by how many of these criteria are met:

*There is proof that the private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire, who was jailed for his part in hacking royal aides, was acting as an agent for News International;

*There is proof that Mascii117lcaire had the mobile and PIN of the said individascii117al in order to attempt to access their voicemail;

*There is proof that Mascii117lcaire attempted to access their voicemail;

*There is proof that he accessed their voicemail;

*That, as a resascii117lt of the accessed voicemail, an article was written in the paper which was damaging.