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A former Liverpool FC executive is one of four alleged phone hacking victims taking The S*n newspaper to court.

Ian Cotton, the club’s ex-director of communications, is joined by entertainer Les Dennis in the lawsuit.

The group claim 40 articles printed in the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid were gained through illegal phone hacking.

Mr Justice Mann ruled at the High Court there should be a trial to settle the matter.

Mr Cotton, who worked for Liverpool FC for 15 years, also advised the Hillsborough families after the release of the landmark Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012.

The two other claimants involved in the case are James Mullard, the former manager of Pete Doherty’s band Babyshambles, and Simon Clegg, ex-boss of the British Olympic Association.

News Group Newspapers (NGN), which publishes The S*n, has already settled a large number of phone hacking cases against the now-defunct News of the World.

But the company has always denied any wrongdoing at The S*n.

Mr Justice Mann, however, has allowed the case to proceed.

NGN’s defence is that The S*n and News of the World were separate papers that did not share resources or staff.

Other lawsuits that could follow include cases brought by EastEnders actors Christopher Parker and Brooke Kinsella, Coronation Street actor Kym Marsh, designer Pearl Lowe and her musician husband Danny Goffey.

Ex-News of the World staff including Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were put on trial after the phone hacking scandal emerged.

Brooks was cleared but Coulson, who worked as David Cameron’s spin doctor, was jailed for 18 months.

The ECHO’s parent company Trinity Mirror has previously paid damages for phone hacking at its national division, and further cases are pending.