News Corporation is facing fresh phone-hacking allegations in the United States, the solicitor Mark Lewis has revealed.
Lewis, who has represented phone-hacking victims in the UK including the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, is working with New York lawyers Norman Siegel and Steven Hyman. Siegel and Hyman have been pursuing an inquiry into the hacking of 9/11 victims' phones.
At least 10 people across the Atlantic have made complaints against News Corporation, Lewis said. The allegations are directed at the now-defunct News of the World and also Fox News in the US.
Lewis said that the complaints were not only of hacking but "other untoward dark arts." He said he had been contacted by people "raising issues against other (News Corp) titles or Fox News, not necessarily about hacking but about other untoward dark arts to obtain information that should be private."
Under US federal law, anyone who intercepts telecommunications for the purposes of commercial advantage can face five years in prison. There are four firm cases of alleged phone hacking in the US, but the lawyers are refusing to name possible victims in order to protect their privacy.
The news will put further pressure on James Murdoch, who has recently moved to New York from London after stepping down as chairman of News International.