AlQa'dah 9, 1432, Oct 7, 2011, SPA -- Interior designer Kelly Hoppen has accepted 60,000 pounds ($92,300) in damages in settlement of her legal action over the News of the World phone hacking scandal, according to Reuters. "The parties have now agreed to settle their differences," her solicitor Mark Thomson told London's High Court on Friday. "(News International and News Group Newspapers) have agreed to pay 60,000 pounds to the claimant as damages as well as her costs," he added. Hoppen is one of around 60 celebrities, politicians and sports stars who have lodged cases against Rupert Murdoch's News International, the British arm of News Corp , charging that they had their phones hacked to generate stories by people working for the now defunct News of the World tabloid. Her action was one of a number of lead cases being used to establish principles for the others and eliminate the need for each one to be heard separately. The claimants say there was a "grand conspiracy" at the newspaper, meaning that illegal voicemail interception was standard practice and widely known about. News International denies this, although it has admitted some liability and offered compensation to a few of the claimants. In another of the lead cases, actress Sienna Miller accepted a payout of 100,000 pounds in June.
