Paul Gascoigne has won £188,250 in phone hacking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) at the High Court.

The pay-out to the former England footballer was one of eight announced at London's High Court after a three-week hearing in March to determine the extent of the wrongdoing at the group and what level of compensation was appropriate.

Mr Justice Mann awarded £260,250 to actress and businesswoman Sadie Frost, and £155,000 to soap star Shane Richie.

He also awarded  £117,500 and £157,250 respectively to soap actresses Shobna Gulati and Lucy Taggart.

A statement from Gascoigne's lawyer Gerald Shamash said he was "delighted and relieved with today's result".

"Paul would have much preferred not to have come to court to relive painful experiences which he was prepared to do.

"He was frustrated that MGN chose not to cross-examine him so that he could explain in detail the awful impact the hacking of his phone has had upon him, his family and close friends, his health and general well-being."

In March Gascoigne told the court that hacking had contributed to his alcoholism.

Leaving the court after learning he would not be questioned by MGN's lawyer, he said: "I would like to trade my mobile phone in for a coffin because these guys have ruined my life. I have no life."

Lawyers for the victims claimed the payouts, totalling around £1.2m, were "unparalleled".

The judge said the victims had all suffered a "serious infringement of privacy" and the scale of hacking was "very substantial indeed".

But MGN's counsel, Matthew Nicklin QC, said the claim that the victims suffered "unparalleled" harm was wrong and there was no reason why compensation for distress caused by misuse of private information should go beyond that awarded in other types of litigation.

Frost said outside court: "It has been a very difficult time and a time to reflect. I am relieved this is at an end and justice has been done."

The star revealed during her court appearance that she had asked her family to sign confidentiality agreements when stories about her private life kept appearing in newspapers.

The judge's ruling will provide a framework for resolving similar civil actions in the pipeline.

Daniel Taylor, of Taylor Hampton, solicitors who represented three of the eight victims, said: "Today's judgment represents a milestone in the development of privacy law in the UK and the awarding of six-figure damages is truly historic and unparalleled, on a scale much greater than has ever been awarded previously."

Earlier in the year, Trinity Mirror published a "sincere and unreserved" apology for the voicemail interception, saying it "was unlawful and should never have happened".

In a trading update, it said the cost of resolving civil claims would be "higher than previously envisaged" and it was increasing the provision for dealing with them by £8m to £12m.
(Sky News)