By NOEL MURPHY
Geelong Mayor Darryn Lyons says he is a victim of the United Kingdom’s phone hack scandal.
Cr Lyons told the Independent he was unable to talk because of police investigations and legal action in London but could confirm he was an alleged victim of News Corp hacking.
“I am a victim of multiple counts of phone hacking and I’m aware of investigations,” Cr Lyons told the Independent when asked about recent News of the World hacking trial findings.
“I’d love to comment but I’ve been advised by my lawyers, because of legal action, not to.”
Cr Lyons was one of the biggest players in British media for two decades when he headed the former Big Pictures celebrity photo agency.
He refused to be drawn on several of the Independent’s questions about the hacking scandal.
Asked whether phone hacking contributed to Big Pictures’ problems before he wound up the company, Cr Lyons replied: “No comment”.
Asked whether newspapers other than News of the World had allegedly hacked his phones, he replied: “No comment”.
Asked whether he would seek compensation for any phone hacking, he replied: “That’s in the hands of my lawyers.”
Police investigators from England’s Scotland Yard are set to interview News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch after the eight-month trial in the Old Bailey found former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who was later a media adviser to British Prime Minister David Cameron, guilty of phone hacking. Colson’s predecessor, Rebekah Brooks, was acquitted of similar charges.
Mr Murdoch’s media holdings in Australia include the Geelong Advertiser and the Herald Sun, which published apologies to Cr Lyons early this year over inaccurate reports regarding his financial circumstances. Fairfax Media publications also apologised for similar reports.
The Independent understands that News Ltd and Fairfax also paid Cr Lyons six-figure sums of money as part of the settlement.
At the height of his paparazzi operations Cr Lyons was negotiating photo sales worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each with some of the world’s biggest mastheads.
