Phone hacking: latest updates

Channel 4 says News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was challenged by police in 2002 over claims that News of the World had a senior Metropolitan police detective under surveillance. 8.37pm: More on advertisers reviewing their links to the News of the World. My colleagues Sam Jones and Mark Sweney report that mobile phone firms Orange and T-Mobile are joining Ford, nPower and Halifax in considering their position. A spokesman for T-Mobile said: “We’re currently reviewing our advertising position with News of the World, following the recent allegations, and await the outcome of the ongoing police investigation.” Orange put out a similar statement, saying: “We’re currently reviewing our advertising position with News of the World, following the recent allegations, and await the outcome of the ongoing police investigation.” The latest advertising boycotts came as companies including Co-operative, WH Smith, EasyJet, Butlins and Renault came under heavy pressure from internet campaigners to sever their links with the Sunday tabloid. A one-stop page has been set up to allow people to automatically tweet their concerns. 8.15pm: More details from the Channel 4 News website on claims that Met detective Dave Cook was placed under surveillance by News of the World. The report quotes Alistair Morgan, brother of Daniel Morgan, whose murder Cook had been investigating at the time of the alleged surveillance. “Dave told me about it, he told me about it then but I didn’t realise who the newspaper was at that point. … “Dave told me that he was out walking his dog, he was taking his dog for a walk one evening when he noticed a van in an odd location. I think he said behind some trees near his house. The following morning he noticed he was being followed.” 8.04pm: Back to the Milly Dowler Case. Press Association reports Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, has written to Brooks and Scotland Yard acting commissioner John Yates asking what prior knowledge there had been of hacking in the Milly Dowler case. This is what Vaz says on the matter: These allegations are extremely shocking. It is now essential that any parties involved criminally are prosecuted and that we uncover who knew what at which point in time at both the Metropolitan Police and at the News of the World. The committee will be raising this issue with police officers involved in the current and previous investigations. We will also seek to clarify why a significant variance of action was taken by mobile phone companies in the aftermath of the phone hacking revelations. 7.44pm: Channel 4 News has made claims about how the News of the World placed senior Metropolitan police detective under surveillance at a time he was investigating the murder of a private eye with links to individuals who worked for the paper. Here’s an outline of its report : It said a Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook, a senior police officer who appeared on Crimewatch, claimed he was told by colleagues that he was under surveillance by News of the World when he was investigating the 1987 murder of Daniel Morgan, a private investigator. The C4 report said police discovered that vans leased to News of the World had been witnessed tailing Cook. It said NoW was investigating whether Cook was having an affair with Jackie Haynes, a Crimewatch presenter who was in fact his wife. C4 says the timing of the NoW surveillance was disturbing because suspects in a case being investigated by Cook were private investigators with close links to NoW. C4 added that Brooks was challenged by police over this at a meeting in 2002. News International was quoted saying it was not aware of the claims but would investigate. It said it could not confirm or deny Brooks’ meeting with police. It said Cook and Haynes were informed two months ago about documentation of surveillance found among notes seized from Glenn Mulcaire. It said they were both considering legal action. 7.14pm: News International’s Simon Greenberg said he is confident the company can come through the phone hacking scandal. Speaking on Sky News he said: “We’ve found some new information that helps us get closer to the facts of the case about who is involved.” He added: “I’m not going to be naming individuals. We’re liaising with the police. We met with the police this morning… It was a routine meeting… It is going to get us closer to establishing the facts.” Greenberg said he was not aware of any claims of phone hacking in the case of Sarah Payne. “We’ve not shied away from the fact that when the allegations were made, Rebekah (Brooks) was editor of the NoW… and she’s going to lead us through this investigation.” He said: “There are things in the past that are highly regretful,” and described the Milly Dowler incident as an “appalling shocking case”. He said during his time at the News of the World he had no idea where the phone-hacked stories were coming from. 7.00pm: Simon Greenberg, News International’s director of corporate affairs, is appearing on Sky News to talk about phone hacking. 6.52pm: Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News tweets: Did News of the World team up with Sara Payne to campaign for Sarah’s Law – and then have her phone hacked? Watch C4News at 7 6.28pm: Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal, has issued a public apology to those upset by his activity . The statement, released exclusively to the Guardian, makes no reference to hacking Milly Dowler’s phone, but says he never intended to interfere with police inquiries. He said he had been operating under a “constant demand for results”. I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done. Much has been published in the media about me. Up to now, I have not responded publicly in any way to all the stories but in the light of the publicity over the last 24 hours, I feel I must break my silence. I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done. I’ve been to court. I’ve pleaded guilty. And I’ve gone to prison and been punished. I still face the possibility of further criminal prosecution. Working for the News of the World was never easy. There was relentless pressure. There was a constant demand for results. I knew what we did pushed the limits ethically. But, at the time, I didn’t understand that I had broken the law at all. A lot of information I obtained was simply tittle-tattle, of no great importance to anyone, but sometimes what I did was for what I thought was the greater good, to carry out investigative journalism. I never had any intention of interfering with any police inquiry into any crime. I know I have brought the vilification I am experiencing upon myself, but I do ask the media to leave my family and my children, who are all blameless, alone. 6.21pm: Some companies say they will continue advertising with the News of the World pending police investigations into the voicemail hacking. Tesco, responding to customers on Facebook and Twitter, said: “We know that you have a lot of questions surrounding recent News of the World allegations. “These latest allegations will cause huge distress to a family which has suffered enough. “It’s now a matter for the police. Like everyone, we await the outcome of their investigation.” A Virgin Media spokeswoman said: “We’re not taking any action at this point. We’re just waiting for the outcome of any investigation and then we will look into what to do.” 6.00pm: Good evening and welcome to our live blog on the latest developments and fallout from the Guardian’s revelations about how the News of the World illegally targeted the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler and her family in March 2002, interfering with police inquiries into her disappearance. • The stakes have been dramatically upped in the last number of hours after the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, suggested that Rebekah Brooks, the News International chief executive, should resign . • Labour are also demanding an public inquiry into illegality in the newspaper industry, while John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, has approved an emergency three-hour debate on phone hacking in the Commons tomorrow. David Cameron has meanwhile criticised the News of the World – “this is a truly dreadful act”, he said. • Brooks has told employees it is “inconceivable” she knew that the News of the World hacked into Milly Dowler’s mobile phone. The News International chief executive said she was “sickened” by the events, but insisted she was “determined to lead the company” – despite calls for her to resign. • Press Complaints Commission chairman Baroness Buscombe has meanwhile said that she was lied to by the News of the World over phone hacking. She said she did not know the extent of the scandal when she came on board the PCC in 2009, but admitted she had been “misled by the News of the World” – after she had previously concluded just the opposite. • Separately from the political fallout, Cambridgeshire police have said that the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the two children murdered by Ian Huntley, were contacted by Scotland Yard detectives investigating phone hacking at the News of the World. • Ford has pulled ads, reports the BBC, and the energy firm Npower said it is “reviewing” its advertising in the News of the World following the Milly Dowler revelations. According to Sky News, Halifax are also considering withdrawing advertising from the paper. Phone hacking News of the World News International Rebekah Brooks Newspapers & magazines Barry Neild guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.