claimant

He said the claimants had spent almost £150m on the legal battle, and were seeking nearly £113m of their costs from Mr Lynch's estate.

Mr Marks said he apologised to thousands of claimants who stopped receiving funds because of this "streamlining".

He also said in the documents that the anonymous claimant did not believe that the recipient of his messages was called Maria Joseph.

Spousal benefits can be as much as 50% of the other spouse’s primary insurance amount, though it could be reduced depending on what age the claimant files the application.

BHP said it would appeal against the ruling and continue to fight the lawsuit and has said many claimants in the London lawsuit had already been paid compensation in Brazil.