Phone Hacking: More Than 40 New Civil Claims Filed

LONDON - News of more than 40 new civil lawsuits against the News International unit of Rupert Murdoch emerged late Friday.

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The latest batch of people filing claims related to News of the World phone hacking charges include Sarah Ferguson,  the ex-wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, former actors of popular British soap opera EastEnders Leslie Grantham and Tamzin Outhwaite, soccer players and former boys band Boyzone member Keith Duffy, The Guardian reported. 

The latest filings bring the claims count against News International to 121.

Another round of filings that were made before a Friday deadline are expected to become known on Monday.

According to the Guardian, another 124 phone hacking claims have been accepted into a News International compensation fund. That likely means that the total number of new claims will be below 300, it said.

Hugh Grant and the former manager of Oasis were among those filing claims that become known earlier this week.

In January and February, News International settled 58 phone hacking cases out of court. Damages in those cases went to such celebrities as Jude Law and Sienna Miller.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai