Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell awarded more than £30,000 in damages over phone hacking

Actor Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, and to TV audiences as Kevin Webster, has been awarded more than £30,000 in damages after he brought a phone hacking claim against Mirror Group Newspapers.

The 59-year-old, who's played Kevin Webster on Coronation Street since 1983, received £31,650 after a long-running legal fight against the newspaper group.

He had claimed that 27 articles written about him had used unlawful information-gathering.

Mr Justice Fancourt concluded the media group - which includes The Daily and Sunday Mirror and Sunday People - had been involved in "extensive" phone hacking techniques on a "widespread and habitual basis".

The judge ruled Prince Harry’s phone was hacked “only to a modest extent” by the publisher and that "this was probably carefully controlled by certain people at each newspaper".

In a summary of his judgment on Mr Turner's case, Mr Justice Fancourt said: “I have found Mr Turner’s case of voicemail interception and unlawful information-gathering proved only to a limited extent, and mainly only in respect of the period in 2011 when he was the subject of prosecution in the Crown Court, and so was of particular interest to the Press at that time.

“Mr Turner brought a claim in respect of 27 articles, some of which were exceedingly trivial and others were, on sensible reflection, obviously not the result of unlawful information-gathering.

“The conclusion that I have reached is that, in contrast with his co-star Nikki Sanderson, although Mr Turner was well-known for his Coronation Street role, his personal life was not considered to be of great interest to the Mirror Group’s readers. As a result, he was not on the newspapers’ phone hacking lists.

“That changed with his arrest in 2011 and I find that there were in all four articles out of the 27 where phone hacking or other unlawful information-gathering was proved, and two additional invoices that show unlawful information-gathering.

“I awarded Mr Turner a total of £31,650 in damages, which includes a sum for aggravated damages for the same reason as in the duke’s case.”

A claim brought by actress Hollyoaks and former Coronation Street star Nikki Sanderson was dismissed, because they were submitted to late.

She claimed journalists at its titles – The Daily and Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People – were linked to methods including phone hacking and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

Following Friday's ruling, an MGN spokesperson said: “We welcome today’s judgment that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago.

“Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.”