Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh had her phone stolen in October 2012
Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh had her phone stolen in October 2012

The Sun newspaper has apologised and will pay out "very substantial damages" to Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh after the paper admitted accessing her mobile phone when it was stolen.

Police told the MP for Mitcham and Morden that her messages were accessed after her phone was stolen in October 2012. The paper did not say it was responsible for the theft itself.

According to the Sun's QC who was speaking at the phone hacking inquiry, the paper accepts McDonagh's phone "should not have been accessed and used, and furthermore accepts that there has been a serious misuse of her private information".

Former boxer Chris Eubank also told the High Court he will not be accepting an offer of £21,000 from News International as he said the company "destroyed his life" after hacking his phone.

The details of the phone hacking emerged following reports the court could reveal details of up to 800 potential phone hacking victims at the now defunct News of the World.

According to the Independent, a tabloid "supergrass" with insider knowledge of the paper is giving fresh evidence to the police under Operation Weeting.

News of the World has already paid out millions of pounds in damages to victims of phone hacking, including to the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The revelations that the paper accessed the teenager's voicemails of brought the collapse of the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper.

The phone hacking scandal also launched the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics which resulted in the 2,000-page report which recommended ways to regulate the press.

The recommendations were largely rejected by Prime Minister David Cameron, who instead proposed a Royal Charter-based regulation, an idea rejected by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

All three parties are now believed to have agreed upon on a structure for press regulation, backed by statute.

Rupert Murdoch