A publicist who has represented celebrities including Sienna Miller and Jude Law is set to receive “substantial damages” after settling a High Court claim against the publisher of The Sun.
Ciara Parkes took legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) in 2022 over alleged voicemail interception and misuse of private information at The Sun, and agreed to settle the claim in November last year.
Barristers for Ms Parkes – who attended the wedding of the paper’s former editor Rebekah Brooks in 2009 – told a hearing on Tuesday that NGN made “no admissions of liability on the part of The Sun”.
They said that Ms Parkes was “totally vindicated in having brought this claim”, which had been “stressful and emotionally depleting” for her.
Barristers for NGN made no representations during the short hearing in London before Mr Justice Fancourt.
Reading a statement in court, Ben Hamer, for Ms Parkes, said: “The claimant witnessed first-hand the damage and distress that she believes the defendant’s targeting had caused to the people closest to her and found it upsetting, not only watching the people she cares about suffer, but feeling that at times she was suspected of being the cause of that suffering.
“The claimant considers that she spent many years building a successful business, which has thrived on her relationships and friendships and the trust that is placed in her.
“The claimant believes that her hard work and those connections were exploited by NGN’s journalists and felt betrayed by her friend, Ms Brooks, who, she believes, must have known of and permitted unlawful activities.”
He continued that Ms Parkes believed “everything she felt and shared was being listened to and discussed with NGN’s journalists”.
Ms Parkes runs a PR agency, Public Eye Communications Limited, and has represented actors including Jamie Dornan and Ewan McGregor, with Mr Hamer telling the court that she believes “The Sun’s actions caused distrust and paranoia between her and her associates, including Ms Miller”.
She previously settled a claim against the now-defunct News Of The World in 2012.