Nearly 250 victims to sue over News of the World hacking The others include Eimear Cook, the former wife of the golfer Colin Montgomerie, Jamie Theakston, the broadcaster, James Blunt, the singer, and the footballers Kieron Dyer and Peter Crouch. Crouch's ex-girlfriend Abbie Clancy, Jade Goody's ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier, Duncan Foster, a former director of Coronation Street, and the former boxer Chris Eubank and his ex-wife Karron Stephen-Martin have also lodged court papers. Mr Justice Vos said NGN appeared to be making "superhuman efforts" to avoid any of the cases going to trial, but set the date in February 2013 for any litigants who fail to reach out-of-court settlements. Although 60 people have settled claims, five more cases are set to go to trial later this year, including claims by Ryan Giggs, the footballer, and Paul Burrell, the former royal butler, who have been unable to reach agreements with NGN. Giggs and Mr Burrell were among dozens of litigants who lodged court papers before a cut-off date for the first batch of cases in October last year. The Metropolitan Police has identified 829 potential victims of phone hacking from notebooks kept by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by the News of the World to intercept voicemails. Of those, 231 are said to be uncontactable. It means that even if the 244 new cases are dealt with, NGN could still face claims from almost 350 more people who have been contacted by Scotland Yard and told they are potential victims of phone hacking. Michael Silverleaf QC, for NGN, told the High Court that out of approximately 50 people who have contacted News Group directly, the company has accepted responsibility for 20 victims, with the others yet to be decided.