‘Other papers’ hacked phones, Leveson inquiry hears

The police believe the publishers of the News of the World were involved in hacking phones as recently as 2009, the inquiry also heard on its first day.

Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, said Mr Mulcaire wrote “The Sun” and a name relating to the Daily Mirror in his notebooks, suggesting that the illegal interception of voicemails went beyond the News of the World.

“The inquiry is beginning to receive evidence to indicate that phone hacking was not limited to that organisation,” he said.

He added: “According to the Met Police, News International’s hacking operation had certainly begun by 2002, Milly Dowler being the first known victim. The police believe that it continued until at least 2009.”

Jailed

Mr Mulcaire was jailed with the News of the World’s former royal editor Clive Goodman in 2007 after they admitted intercepting voicemail messages left on phones belonging to members of the royal household.

Mr Mulcaire also pleaded guilty to hacking the phones of publicist Max Clifford, football agent Sky Andrew, chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association Gordon Taylor, MP Simon Hughes and supermodel Elle Macpherson.

It was at the very least a thriving cottage industry. Robert Jay QC

Mr Jay rejected the defence previously mounted by News International that hacking was limited to a single “rogue reporter”.

He said there was evidence of “wide-ranging illegal activity” at the newspaper, adding: “I suggest that it would not be unfair to comment that it was at the very least a thriving cottage industry.”

Responding to the suggestion that Mr Mulcaire may have hacked phones for the Mirror, a Trinity Mirror spokesman said: “The company has no knowledge of ever using Glenn Mulcaire.”

‘Who guards the guardians?’

Lord Justice Leveson said the freedom of the press was “fundamental” to democracy, but it had to be exercised “with the rights of others in mind”.

He said his task could be summed up in one simple question: “Who guards the guardians?”

The first part of the Leveson inquiry, which was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in July after revelations that the News of the World hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler after she went missing, is looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general.

The second part, examining the extent of unlawful activities by journalists, will not begin until detectives have completed their work and any prosecutions have concluded.

Milly’s father Bob was among those who attended the start of the inquiry in Court 73 of the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

‘Why I’m giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry’
Journalist Joan Smith gives her personal account of why she’s giving evidence at the Leveson inquiry.

“I’m not a celebrity or a victim of crime…So how do I find myself on a list of alleged victims of press intrusion alongside Sheryl Gascoigne, JK Rowling and Sienna Miller?”

Read more from journalist Joan Smith on why she’s giving evidence at the Leveson inquiry.

Public ‘sickened’

Mr Jay said: “Although the individual or individuals who deleted Milly’s voicemail messages back in 2002 might not have realised at the time what the consequence might be in terms of raising false hopes, the public was ultimately sickened by the carelessness and cynicism of the perpetrators.”

He added that Mr Mulcaire’s guilty plea to hacking the phones of people who were not royal aides should have alerted News International to the fact that the practice was more widespread.

“Either News International senior management knew what was going on at the time and therefore, at the very least, condoned this illegal activity. Or they didn’t and News International’s systems failed to the extent that there was failure in supervision, failure of oversight with possible failures of training and corporate ethos and checking of expenses claims. And there’s room for a Nelsonian blind eye. In either version, we have clear evidence of a generic, systematic or cultural problem.”

Neil Garnham QC, for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), said the force’s 2005 investigation into phone hacking was “limited” because of “the competing operational demands” of the anti-terrorist branch, which was then concerned with “serious and sustained” threats.

He told the hearing that the Met recognised the inquiry could reach conclusions which were critical of the service.

“The MPS recognises that the conduct of its original investigation and the subsequent related decisions may be the subject of some criticism in the later stages of this inquiry.”