37 people were awarded compensation after their phones were hacked by journalists working for the News of the World newspaper which was shut down following the phone hacking scandal.

In total, £645,000 was awarded at London’s High Court, with actor Jude Law receiving £130,000 in compensation from the paper.

Other high profile figures include John Prescott and Labour MP Chris Bryant. Sarah Payne, mother of a murdered child, and Shaun Russell, who in 1996 lost his wife and child to murder were also compensated for an undisclosed sum.

Jude Law, whose phone was hacked during 2003 to 2006, said: “I was suspicious about how information concerning my private life was coming out in the press.

“I changed my phones, I had my house swept for bugs but still the information kept being published. I started to become distrustful of people close to me.”

News Group Newspapers stated that they had destroyed evidence and lied to investigators to reach a compensation settlement with victims faster, and there was no cover up involved.

Both John Prescott and Chris Bryant did not speak highly of the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Bryant said: “And for me that was really important because the whole point of this legislation, taking these cases, was to break open the fact that the Metropolitan Police point blank refused to re-open their investigation and indeed said in Parliament that my phone had never been hacked and that John Prescott’s phone hadn’t been hacked.

“But today we know that News International have owned up to the fact that it did.

“So I think the Metropolitan Police have got a lot of questions to answer.”

Mr Prescott added: “Today’s court decision at long last brings clarity, apology and compensation for the years of hacking into my telephone messages by Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers.

“It follows years of aggressive denials and a cavalier approach to private information and the law.

“These denials were supported by the Press Complaints Commission and the inaction of senior officers of the Metropolitan Police.

“However, I do not wish to make further comment on this whole matter until the result of my judicial review against the Metropolitan Police has been concluded.”

Her original case was struck out last year with the judge stating that as she did not work for the NHS trusts that were treating the mental patient, it was unreasonable to expect the trusts to be legally responsible for the stabbing and they had no duty of care towards her.

However, Claire Selwood, 42, has taken her personal injury claim to the Appeal Court, where her legal team, spearheaded by Michael Kent QC, argued that had Ms Selwood known how dangerous the patient was she would have treated the situation differently.

He continued to say that given the guidelines, which state that different disciplines of care should communicate with one another in respect of patient care, the two trusts had a duty of care towards Ms Selwood.

Ms Selwood was stabbed six times by mental health patient Graham Burton who had previously told staff that if he saw her again he would kill her on the spot. She was not told of these previous threats to take her life.

Ms Selwood lost five pints of blood and almost died following the attack.

Angus Moon, defending for the trusts, stated that threats of this nature were commonplace and neither trust had the responsibility for Ms Selwood’s safety placed upon them.

Ms Selwood has also launched a compensation claim against her own employers, Durham City Council, but needs to win her appeal against the two NHS trusts before it can go ahead.

A judgement is expected at a later date.

Mary Dacey, 59, has lodged the writ, which it states that Derriford Hospital surgeons botched a lumber puncture procedure which has left her confined to a wheelchair.

Initially she was treated for bleeding on the brain, but following the unsuccessful lumber puncture procedure, performed by trainee surgeons, she was left with no feeling below the waist and is now doubly incontinent and requires daily help.

She is believed to be claiming for damages of around £300,000.

According to the writ, Miss Dacey was her mother’s primary carer before the incident, and was fit and healthy.

In 2009 she was admitted to Royal Cornwall Hospital with a suspected subarachnoid haemorrhage. Two days after treatment, she was transferred to Derriford Hospital where her condition became worse.

She underwent coiling, where a tube was inserted into a blood vessel to block it.

Miss Dacey, in a confused state, pulled out a drain which had been inserted to take fluid from around her brain. The writ claims a consultant said the drain should be replaced or the patient be given a lumber puncture.

Two trainee surgeons tried unsuccessfully to insert a lumbar puncture, but no cerebrospinal fluid was removed.

The following day Miss Dacey could not move her legs and tests showed she had an extensive haematoma. Surgery failed to help and she was transferred back to The Royal Cornwall Hospital and underwent spinal rehabilitation.

The writ accuses the trust of negligence as she underwent unsuccessful lumber punctures which increased her chances of haemorrhaging and the lumber punctures were not urgently needed.

A trust spokeswoman said: “The trust is aware of a claim. As the matter is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment substantively about the events in question.”

Peter, 41, and Michelle Rogers’ wedding day did not start well when the registrar failed to attend as she was walking her dog. Two hours later a replacement registrar arrived but had the wrong music and the wrong vows.

The couple had paid £4500 for a full marriage at Dover’s Discovery Centre, which is run by the local council.

Once the ceremony began, the replacement registrar called the bride by the wrong name.

Due to the ceremony being delayed the photographer, who had already been booked, could not take pictures as it was too dark.

Mr Rogers said: “I made my way to the auditorium where the ceremony would be and was told by a worker at the centre to ‘get out because we are not ready’.

“I sat there for around 30 minutes waiting for some news or information, but got nothing.

“When I asked for an explanation from the council about why the registrar who was due to conduct the ceremony hadn’t turned up I was told she was out walking her dog.

“I couldn’t believe my ears – they should have been at our wedding service, but instead were out with their dog.”

He continued: “The whole day was just one thing after another and the thing that bothers me most is that after saving up the money for the wedding the council haven’t even given us a decent explanation about why everything went so badly wrong.

“Michelle’s special day was ruined, she spent most to the time waiting in the pub or standing about in the pitch black when she should have been walking down the aisle with a smile on her face to get married to me.

“The £4,500 we paid to Kent County Council included pretty much everything, from the wedding dress, to the suits and dresses worn by the page boys and bridesmaids.

“But all that was ruined by the simple fact that nothing went as it should have done.”

The couple are now demanding compensation from the council.

A county council spokesman said: “Due to a communication breakdown our staff did not arrive in time to marry Mr and Mrs Rogers at the agreed time.

“We are very sorry for the distress we caused and we have written to Mr and Mrs Rogers to convey our sincere apologies.”

Jason Kinlin suffered ill health and was made homeless after his flat was wrongly repossessed by his mortgage provider.

Db mortgages has admitted that it acted poorly in relation to Mr Kinlin, who is waiting to receive £2,240.48 compensation. The amount was agreed as sufficient by the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Db mortgages have admitted it started legal proceedings too early in Mr Kinlin’s case.

Mr Kinlin, 42, said: “They have made my life a misery.

“I’m a self-employed plasterer, I got into trouble with my mortgage and instead of them trying to help me they put on charges.”

The plasterer fell into arrears when employment and financial troubles occurred after he remortgaged the flat where he had lived for 15 years.

Mr Kinlin was not offered any help to make up the arrears and continue payments, and was billed double charges in an administration error.

In May 2009 the mortgage company repossessed his property.

Last month Db mortgages was found by the Financial Services Ombudsman not to have treated Mr Kinlin as they should have done.

He slept on the sofa of his mother’s house after she suffered a stroke following the repossession. She has now been moved into a home and Mr Kinlin was not offered any emergency housing.

Mr Kinlin said: “People think I’m unreliable and I’m having to start again from scratch with my business.”

A spokesman for the mortgage company said: “We appreciate how difficult these situations can be and made every effort to help Mr Kinlin during this process. This was confirmed by two independent assessments, one of which called our offer ‘generous’.

“After a short administrative delay with his bank in setting up the transfer, Mr Kinlin has now received full compensation as promised.”

Kevin Bance of Sevenoaks admitted three counts of causing damage to road users at Maidstone Crown Court.

Bance received a three year supervision order and was ordered to pay Kent Police £2000 criminal compensation for the damage he had caused to the cars.

Giving evidence, Kent Police said a woman had injured herself as she stepped onto one of the tacks that Bane had scattered outside Tonbridge police station.

Other police stations Bance had been caught vandalising include Coldharbour and Swanley. He was eventually arrested after he was caught using CCTV cameras.

In addition to the tack attack, the court heard that Bance had sent an envelope to a police officer containing an unknown white powder.

Speaking at his trial, Kent Police said they believe Bance was largely motivated by revenge following his arrest and fine for disorderly behaviour in 2010.

Giving evidence, Detective Constable Nicola Brown said to the court: “What was a malicious and thoughtless act in laying these tacks caused damage to numerous police vehicles, which had to be taken off the road while their tyres were repaired.”

Judge Philip Statman also ordered mental health treatment be given to Bance, as he was convinced that he was suffering mental problems at the time of the attacks and other incidents.

Bance said in court he never considered the consequences.

It is believed that compensation totalling in the hundreds and millions of pounds is being deliberately held back. Government officials have admitted that only £1m in compensation has been paid out so far.

This has prompted an angry response from MPs, who directed their anger towards Theresa May, Home Secretary, labelling the delays a ‘betrayal’ of innocent victims of the riots.

Mayor Boris Johnson has expressed his concerns in compensation payment delays in a personal letter addressed to Theresa May.

Of all the claims, only 88 have been offered any compensation, totalling £600,000.

David Lammy, Tottenham MP said: “I am staggered by the bureaucracy, delays and lack of sensitivity that has been shown to my constituents following riots that were not their fault. It is truly shocking.”

22 London boroughs saw rioters rampage through the streets following the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham. Damage from the riots is estimated at £370m.

Despite vows from politicians of help for those who suffered loss at the hands of the rioters very little compensation has been paid, due to the fact the Home Office still processing the claims.

115 claims from a total of 3500 received have been processed so far, worth £400,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan Police Authority, and 1500 claims fall outside of the criteria for payment, 1300 of which are with loss adjusters or cannot be paid as they still await details from insurance companies.

A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: “The Mayor is very concerned about a delay that is preventing decent people who have suffered more directly than most from the riots from getting money that they are perfectly entitled to by the law.”

Malcolm Wicks Croydon MP said: “The Home Office don’t seem to have any idea what is going on. It is a betrayal. The Home Secretary has to get a grip on this.”

Theresa May declined to comment.

A Home Office spokesman did say however: “Police authorities are responsible for compensating businesses and people for riot damages, and we have urged them and insurers to deal with claims as fast as possible.

“We set up a bureau for those victims without insurance, since we know that making a claim under the Riot Damages Act can be complex.

“While most claims have been assessed and passed to police authorities for payment, there are some outstanding claims which are complex and where claimants have not provided enough information.

“The bureau is actively pursuing these claims so that they can be concluded swiftly.”

The figures emerged last week and South Lanarkshire, which has paid out the second highest amount for pothole compensation when compared to other Scottish councils, saw most of the payments go to car drivers.

Scottish councils have paid £1.8m in compensation payments due to potholes, with South Lanarkshire contributing £215,473 to the total. Glasgow paid out the most in pothole compensation of all the councils.

John Anderson, an East Kilbride councillor, together with councillor Clare McColl want a review on how pothole repairs are handled.

She said: “I would say South Lanarkshire’s roads are far better than in Glasgow.

“Our potholes are filled very quickly. I myself have phoned roads on several occasions and the teams do their best in difficult situations.

“You need to remember the roads have taken a real battering over the past few winters.”

Recent cold winters have added to the amount of potholes on South Lanarkshire roads and the council paid £3m in pothole repairs and compensation due to the damage they have caused.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesman said: “The council recognised some years ago that the need to improve the condition of our roads must become a priority and in 2008 committed additional funding of £126m as part of a long-term upgrading programme.

“To date we have invested an additional £42m and resurfaced 33 per cent of our roads. However, we appreciate that much remains to be done and we have consequently extended additional funding of £12m per year right through to 2019.

“We are also very much aware that the impact of successive severe winters has accelerated the deterioration of many of our road surfaces.”

In 2008, David Collins, 31, was working for Spectra Scaffolding in Stoke-on-Trent.

He was crushed and received severe injuries when 21-foot scaffolding tubes, weighing 1.5 tonnes, broke loose from the crane and fell on him.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) who stated the reasons for the work accident were entirely avoidable, and was down to lack of maintenance on the crane and insufficient training provided to Mr Collins.

Spectra Scaffolding pleaded guilty to the charges.

At court it transpired that the company’s management had known that the crane was faulty but had not done anything to fix the problems, and Mr Collins had not been trained sufficiently to recognise that one of the sling catches was faulty and had become loose.

HSE inspector Lindsay Hope said: “As a result of this incident Mr Collins has been severely disabled and could easily have been killed.

“Companies that operate lorry-mounted cranes must ensure their operators undertake appropriate, recognised training in all aspects.

“In this instance, the lift wasn’t properly planned or supervised and Mr Collins hadn’t been sufficiently trained in how to use the crane and slings properly.

“Furthermore, the equipment had not been properly maintained and should never have been used.”

In addition to the £40,000 fine, the firm was ordered to pay £45,000 prosecution costs.

George Stewart handcuffed Arlene Pattie, 47, at Dundee East Port House in 2011.

He was found guilty of assault following the incident, which saw two officers attend the hostel to arrest a resident in July last year. He was ordered to pay Mrs Pattie £1,000 in criminal injury compensation.

At the trial his co-accused, Pc Shirley Tindall, was found not guilty of assault.

The trial lasted four days during which Stewart had pleaded not guilty, and claimed the taping and handcuffing was part of a flirty relationship with the victim.

He went onto say that he was “gobsmacked” that a complaint had been made against him.

Sheriff Richard Davidson, however, described Stewart as “juvenile” and “unprofessional”.

The court heard how Stewart had wrapped tape over her glasses, hair, and nose and left her in a hysterical state.

Mrs Pattie said she was handcuffed in a crucifix position after Stewart borrowed a pair of handcuffs from his colleague.

She added that she was “humiliated” and “petrified” by the attack.

She said: “He was sitting on the desk playing with the roll of tape.

“He then started rolling it round my head. It was down over my nose – that was what frightened me the most.”

Susan Duff, Stewart’s advocate, said: “Not only was policing his career, it was his life and he is now left without it.

“He is deeply apologetic for having caused Mrs Pattie such upset.”

Summing up, Sheriff Davidson accused Pc Tindall of not telling the truth but decided that passing handcuffs to Stewart did not constitute assault.

To Stewart he said: “Your behaviour was wholly unprofessional and juvenile.

“On this particular occasion you lost all sense of proportion and responsibility – I don’t know what you were thinking.

“Your behaviour has an unfortunate reflection on other officers of Tayside Police and that’s perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of this case.”