Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group faces more than 40 civil claims totalling millions of pounds and demands for a second inquiry into whether it had a corrupt relationship with the Metropolitan police after undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood was jailed for tampering with evidence.



The News of the World journalist, who used his “Fake Sheikh” disguise to ensnare celebrities, was told by a judge that he lied “to get another scalp” by conspiring to suppress evidence in the trial of the former N-Dubz singer and X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos.

In the aftermath of the sentencing on Friday, lawyers said the number of civil cases being prepared against News UK had risen from 20 to 45 in the past fortnight. Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, has already filed an action in Dublin’s high court, while former London’s Burning actor John Alford and former Sun Page 3 model Emma Morgan are among those expected to seek compensation in London.

Lawyer Mark Lewis, who is representing some of those targeted by Mahmood and who acted against News UK in some phone-hacking cases, said: “I’ve had calls from people from all walks of life that he deliberately set up. Some of these people had their lives ruined for over 20 years. They lost not just their livelihoods but their liberty, careers, families.”

He said that claims could amount to £800m – although in practice if there were any settlements they would amount to a considerably lower figure.

The number of Mahmood-related convictions being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission has risen from six to eight. Among them are the cases of Alford and the Earl of Hardwicke, who were convicted on drugs charges following Mahmood sting operations.

There were also calls for News UK to be subject to a second Leveson inquiry. Robert Quick, former assistant commissioner and head of counter-terrorism at Scotland Yard, said the conviction and sentencing of Mahmood demonstrated that “clearly there is a strong case” for holding the second part of the inquiry.

Promised by David Cameron when he was prime minister, part two was due to investigate the extent of criminal conduct at Murdoch’s News UK and other newspapers after the phone-hacking and related trials had finished – and whether the police were complicit.

Quick said he had “concerns that the relationships were improper” between the top echelons of Scotland Yard and the NoW, for which Mahmood was a star reporter who supplied information that led to a string of convictions. He added that he had proposed investigating the NoW in 2000 but this had been “blocked from above”.

After a two-week Old Bailey trial this month, Mahmood, 53, the self-styled “king of the sting”, and his driver Alan Smith, 67, were found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by changing a police statement in the trial of Contostavlos, which was thrown out at Southwark crown court in July 2014.

Giving Mahmood a 15-month sentence, the judge, Gerald Gordon, said: “It was your idea. You were the intended beneficiary. The motive was to protect and enhance your reputation. You wanted another scalp and Tulisa Contostavlos’s conviction would have allowed that, and to achieve that, when you saw a problem, you were prepared for the court to be deceived.” Smith was given a 12-month suspended sentence.

News UK said it was terminating Mahmood’s employment following the sentencing, but that it would “vigorously defend” any civil claims brought against it as a result of his activity. A spokeswoman said: “It is a source of great regret that his time with the company should end in this manner. We have noted the threats made after Mazher’s conviction of civil claims against this company in relation to his previous work. Should such claims be brought, they will be vigorously defended.”

As Mahmood was led from the dock, someone in the packed public gallery shouted: “It’s your turn now, Mazher.”

It is understood that in a Met interview in 2005, Mahmood told detectives he had “bent officers” as informants, but after questioning the journalist police decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute. The Met continued to work with Mahmood to bring prosecutions.

Police also got warnings, first in 2003 and again in 2005, from a helper of Mahmood who claimed in an interview with detectives that the journalist was routinely setting people up.

The campaign group Hacked Off said the need for the second part of the Leveson inquiry was “overwhelmingly clear”.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: “Criminal investigations relating to the Leveson inquiry have not yet been completed and we have always been clear that the conclusion of these cases must take place before we can consider part two of the inquiry.”