British Indian actress Shobna Gulati has been awarded a payout from Mirror Group amongst the eight people whose phones were hacked by Mirror Group journalists writing celebrity stories.
Ms Gulati, Coronation Street's Sunita Alahan, was awarded £117,500, while actress Sadie Frost won £260,000 and ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne £188,250.
Ms phone was hacked from 2003, two years after she joined the soap opera. The TOI reported that Gulati, who is a single mother, had told the court earlier that her son ran away from home when he was 11-year-old after an article about how she was dumped both by her lover and bosses at Coronation Street came out, following the phone hack.
She reportedly said, "My mother had also been seriously ill that year and, given I'm a single parent, my son was really concerned who was going to look after him if I was going into the jungle." Her son was also extensively bullied in school following the revelations in the Mirror owned papers.
The scale of damages reflected the invasions of privacy being "so serious and so prolonged", the judge said.
Justice Mann added: "The length, degree and frequency of all this conduct explains why the sums I have awarded are so much greater than historical awards.
The High Court heard the hacking took place at various periods between 1999 and 2009. After the figures were announced, Mr Mann was told that about 70 other claims were outstanding, and that a further 10 had settled.
The Mirror Group reportedly said it would consider whether to seek permission to appeal against the size of the damages. It has increased the amount from £12m to £28m to deal with phone hacking claims .
