Senior executives at Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group set in motion a “carefully conceived plan” to delete damning emails when confronted with evidence that the phone hacking scandal was about to spin out of control, a High Court judge said on Thursday.

As 37 people hacked by the News of the World, including Lord Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, and Jude Law, the actor, accepted damages exceeding ￡1m, with further millions awarded in costs, the defunct Sunday tabloid’s parent company was accused of deceiving the police and ordering the destruction of evidence.

The settlement of the hacking cases left about 10 civil suits outstanding, which will be heard in February. A further 70 or so are said by lawyers to be waiting in the wings.