Former Newcastle United and England footballer Kieron Dyer has described the toll on his mental health after the Daily Mirror admitted unlawfully hacking his phone over a prolonged period of his football career.

Mr Dyer sued the newspaper over allegations that journalists at its publications had carried out unlawful information gathering between 1998 and 2011, citing 63 articles in support of his claim.

Dyer received an apology at the High Court after settling in return for a financial payout, but his lawyers said the “lifelong consequences” on his wellbeing were impossible to imagine.

Rebekah Finch, acting for the 45-year-old ex-midfielder, said the paper had made admissions about some unlawful activity between 2003 and 2005.

This amounted to the Mirror’s owners, MGN Limited, admitting to unlawfully intercepting Dyer’s voicemails between March 2003 and December 2004, and tasking private investigators to use criminal means to obtain private information on eight occasions between 2003 and 2005.

In a statement read in court in central London by Alex Pollock, MGN apologised for the damage and distress caused to Dyer by the misuse of his private information, adding:

The defendant is here today, through me, to offer its apologies to the claimant for the damage and distress caused to him by the misuse of his private information over a decade ago on the occasions referred to.

MGN accepts and acknowledges that the claimant’s private information should not have been obtained and used in the manner it was.”

The settlement statement said MGN denied – or did not admit – that the articles in three newspaper titles, the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and The People, were the product of unlawful information gathering activities.

Dyer, who was capped 33 times by England, said in a statement read by his lawyers, that he felt his career, reputation and mental health were affected by the “horrible” experience, which left him feeling ridiculed.

The claimant described the experience as "horrible’ and he felt "ridiculed’ and his mental health and reputation took an impact.

The claimant also recalled that, on a weekly basis when he would go somewhere, either alone or with close friends and family, photographers were waiting at the locations he visited. The Statement in Open Court continued: “This led to the claimant questioning relationships with close friends and family and suffering from a complete lack of trust in all of his associates. As a result, the claimant’s family suffered distress.

The claimant was upset at the time that the articles were published containing his private information. He found that as a result of the publication of the articles, his relationships with the public, colleagues, friends and family suffered and sometimes he 'lost their trust' and was not put in a positive light."

Finch, the legal director of the law firm TLT, which represented Dyer, added:

"This is a milestone achievement for Kieron who has been litigating for almost six years and waited a very long time for this outcome. It’s impossible to imagine the impact of MGN’s conduct. These actions have had lifelong consequences on his wellbeing, and we’re pleased that we were able to reach this settlement for him in recognition of the harm caused."

As part of the settlement, MGN also provided an undertaking to Dyer - who had recently worked as a coach at Ipswich Town, and currently works as a TV and radio pundit - not to access or attempt to access voicemails left for or by him or otherwise illegally obtain his private information and agreed to pay his reasonable legal costs.

The settlement follows the Duke of Sussex settling the remaining parts of his claim against MGN in February.

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