Charlotte Church stands alone as hacking victims settle
Charlotte Church, loved by the tabloids as both angel and wild child, yesterday became the last woman standing against Rupert Murdoch's media empire after she and her family were left as the last participants in a damaging public trial which threatens to reveal the full inside story of phone hacking at the News of the World.
The Cardiff-born singer, who claimed that her management advised her as a child to sing at Mr Murdoch's New York wedding to Wendi Deng in 1999 in return for favourable press coverage, has refused to settle her claim for damages against the defunct Sunday tabloid which centres on four years of hacking of both her and her parents' phones.
News International's concern that a public trial will further damage an already-tainted brand was evident as their lawyers repeatedly appealed in the High Court yesterday to have the trial delayed, potentially indefinitely. The demand was dismissed by the presiding judge, Mr Justice Vos, stating simply: "We're ready for trial."
Ms Church found herself the unlikely lone protagonist in the legal battle against the "industrial scale" hacking that was rife inside the now-defunct Murdoch title after a further tranche of settlements involving other phone hacking victims was announced. The payouts left her and her parents, Maria and James, as the last remaining victims with viable cases in the first wave of damages cases.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/charlotte-church-stands-alone-as-hacking-victims-settle-6676524.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Rupert Murdoch is buying off his victims and the rest of the MSM is allowing him to get away with it. Where is the outrage? I nearly forgot about the story until reading this just now. 
American media? Hello? 
