Rupert Murdoch’s News International have reportedly offered Milly Dowler’s family a £3 million to settle the phone hacking scandal which led to the demise of the News of The World.
The settlement comes only months after Murdoch met with the Dowler family and apologised profusely for his newspaper’s interceptions of Milly’ voicemails after she had gone missing in 2002.
The settlement which is believed to include a £1 million charity far exceeds offers made to celebrities who had their phones hacked by the tabloid. including the £100,000 paid to the actress Sienna Miller and £1m to the publicist Max Clifford last year.
The family reportedly rejected an early offer of £2 million and were said to be seeking a figure of £3.5 million
In July the Guardian revealed that murder victim Milly Dowler’s mobile phone had been hacked by a private investigator Glenn Mulcaire working for New of The World and some of the messages had been deleted from her phone, giving her family false hope that she was still alive caused widespread outrage among the public and shone a light on the illegal activities at the newspaper.
News International confimed it was "in advanced negotiations with the Dowler family regarding their compensation settlement. No final agreement has yet been reached, but we hope to conclude the discussions as quickly as possible."
The Dowler family's solicitor Mark Lewis would not comment on the negotiations but said that the final sum would be “substantial”.
Murdoch denies knowledge of Milly Dowler phone hacking
