News International, which owns the News of the World newspaper, has admitted liability in a number of ‘voicemail hacking’ cases. Several claimants have been offered an apology; the company is also setting up a compensation fund to pay claims.
Allegations of unauthorised access to mobile phone voicemail accounts first came to light in 2006, when a News of the World reporter was arrested. Earlier this week another reporter and a former editor were also arrested.
[Sources: BBC News; Guardian.co.uk]