Hacking inquiry – Hacked off

The Metropolitan Police has said today it was impossible to conclude how messages from Milly Dowler’s voicemail were deleted, creating “false hope” for her family. A statement from DCI John MacDonald, a senior officer investigating the potential deletions, was read out before the inquiry today. He said it was possible an illegal intercept had resulted [...]

A clause allowing journalists to speak out against unethical behaviour in newspapers is a “good idea”, Rupert Murdoch has said. The proprietor endorsed the conscience clause, proposed by the National Union of Journalists, when answering questions submitted by the union at the Leveson Inquiry, admitting he had never heard of the idea before. The clause could be [...]

Rupert Murdoch has admitted to a cover-up of phone hacking at the News of the World. He told the Leveson Inquiry today he was “misinformed and shielded” from the extent of hacking at the paper, owned by News International, and blamed other newspapers for turning the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone into a national scandal. [...]

by Brian Cathcart More than a year ago the rumour first circulated that among those hacked by the News of the World were victims of the disastrous Northwick Park Hospital drug trial. The latest list of people suing News International over hacking suggests that the rumour may have been accurate. Friday’s Guardian reported: “The list [...]

A former assistant Met commissioner attended the wedding of a News of the World crime reporter, the Leveson Inquiry has heard. Lucy Panton, who worked at the paper from 2002 until it shut down last year, said Yates was a working friend who attended her wedding, and the wedding of Jeff Edwards, chair of the [...]

The former deputy editor of the News of the World has denied having an “arm lock” on senior figures in the Metropolitan Police. Neil Wallis, who appeared before the Leveson Inquiry in December last year, was recalled today to answer further questions on the nature of his relationships with senior officers in the force. He [...]