Trinity Mirror has confirmed it is seeking permission to appeal the High Court judgment that it should pay eight phone-hacking claimants a total of £1.2m in compensation.
Last month, Mr Justice Mann ruled that actress Sadie Frost should receive £260,250 and former footballer Paul Gascoigne £188,250 after a two-week damages trial.
Following the judgement, Mirror Group Newspapers – which represents the national newspaper department of Trinity Mirror – increased the estimated cost of dealing with hacking from £12m to £28m.
However, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People indicated that it was considering whether to appeal the judgment.
And in a statement to shareholders today, Trinity Mirror said: "MGN Limited has already accepted that it should pay appropriate compensation to individuals who were the target of phone hacking. However, we believe that the basis used for calculating damages in the judgment is incorrect and the amounts awarded by the Judge are excessive and disproportionate.
"There remains uncertainty as to how matters will progress. Further updates will be made if there are any significant developments or our estimate of the financial exposure was to materially change."
In his judgment, Mann said: said: “The fact that they are greater than any other publicly available award results from the fact that the invasions of privacy involved were so serious and so prolonged.”
Chief executive Simon Fox said at the time: “I deeply regret the activity which has gone on in the past and the distress we have caused the claimants…However the award of damages made today appears out of all proportion to personal injury claims or to any previous privacy case and that is why we are considering whether to seek permission to appeal.”
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