Statement from Hacked Off on Dan Evans sentence

Yesterday, former Sunday Mirror and News of the World reporter Dan Evans was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 10 months in prison (suspended for 12 months). Dr Evan Harris, Associate Director of Hacked off, who was present at the Old Bailey said:

“The most significant charge for which Dan Evans has been sentenced today is Count 1 which was for a conspiracy with others to hack phones at the Sunday Mirror between 2003 and 2005.”

“The Judge sentenced Mr Evans on the basis that senior executives at the Sunday Mirror taught him how to and encouraged him to hack phones and of course he pleaded guilty to that.”

“It is now time that Trinity Mirror accept that there was wrong-doing, start to fully co-operate with the police and stop the flat denial of any phone-hacking at the Trinity Mirror Group – which has been their consistent stance in the face of these facts. It is now clear that not only was the “One Rogue Reporter” defence a fiction, but the suggestion that this illegal activity was confined to one newspaper or one newspaper group has been exploded.”

“The cover–up, the refusal to properly and promptly investigate, and the refusal to accept what has happened by Trinity Mirror Group merely serves to underline the need for a complete overhaul of corporate governance, and highlights the desperate need for newspapers to accept the Leveson recommendations on effective and independent regulation. Trinity Mirror Group now faces very stark reputational damage and serious financial risk from ongoing civil litigation and possible corporate charges. Hacked Off will now be writing to shareholders in this company to alert them to what has taken place and to remind them of their own duties when investing the funds of third parties.”

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