Phone hacking scandal deepens

[Jan Klimkowski]

It's nice to know that the Boys in Blue are so "flexible" when it comes to matters of outright media criminality.

After all they wouldn't want to inhibit the comfy tax-free river of "folding readies" destined for the concealed truncheon pocket courtesy of the Fleet-Street-Inspector-Knacker-of-the-Yard tip-off machine now would they...

Yup. I posted the below earlier in this thread from the NYT article.

Scotland Yard also had a symbiotic relationship with News of the World. The police sometimes built high-profile cases out of the paper’s exclusives, and News of the World reciprocated with fawning stories of arrests.

Within days of the raids, several senior detectives said they began feeling internal pressure. One senior investigator said he was approached by Chris Webb, from the department’s press office, who was “waving his arms up in the air, saying, ‘Wait a minute — let’s talk about this.’ ” The investigator, who has since left Scotland Yard, added that Webb stressed the department’s “long-term relationship with News International.” The investigator recalled becoming furious at the suggestion, responding, “There’s illegality here, and we’ll pursue it like we do any other case.” In a statement, Webb said: ‘‘I cannot recall these events. Police officers make operational decisions, not press officers. That is the policy of the Metropolitan Police Service and the policy that I and all police press officers follow.’’

At the footsoldier level, it's about "nice little earners", most often likely in cash or freebies such as, ahem, hospitality.

At the supervisory level, there's the potential for "fitting up" - both by police off the record briefings and by News International "undercover investigations" which have frequently been exposed as evidentially flimsy.

At the strategic level, this is institutional corruption, and leads into the claims by several MPs that they were, in essence, warned off pursuing News International.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Sometimes, only a cascading bellylaugh is appropriate....

Andy Coulson denies knowledge of criminal activity at News of the World

• Tommy Sheridan trial hears No 10 media chief reject claims he knew of widespread phone hacking
• Scotland Yard finds insufficient evidence for fresh prosecutions in hacking case

Nick Davies and Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk, Friday 10 December 2010 16.56 GMT

The prime minister's director of communications, Andy Coulson, was today accused of lying to a court and suffering from amnesia in his account of the phone-hacking affair at the News of the World. Coulson repeatedly denied all knowledge of criminal activity at the paper, where he was formerly the editor.

Giving evidence at Glasgow high court, Coulson said it was "nonsense" to suggest that the relationship between News International and the senior Scotland Yard officer who investigated the affair "stinks of corruption". He denied that the paper had known that former assistant commissioner Andy Hayman was having an affair and that this might have compromised the independence of the investigation.

Coulson was confronted with detailed notes of alleged phone hacking made by Glenn Mulcaire, the News of the World private investigator at the centre of the affair. He said: "I'm saying that I had absolutely no knowledge of it. I certainly didn't instruct anyone to do anything at the time or anything else which was untoward."

Coulson was giving evidence in the trial of Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish socialist politician who is accused of committing perjury in order to win a 2006 libel trial over News of the World stories that accused him of illicit affairs and visits to a sex club. Sheridan is presenting his own defence.

In more than three hours in the witness box, Coulson endured a barrage of claims that he variously:

• supervised a newsroom in which more than half of the reporters used a private investigator to gain illegal access to confidential data;

• asked Clive Goodman, the reporter at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World, to "take the blame for the sake of the paper";

• was responsible for recruiting a feature writer named Dan Evans who has since been suspended by the paper in relation to new allegations of phone hacking;

• had a history of social contact with Andy Hayman, who then led the inquiry into the the paper and subsequently went to work for another newspaper from the same company.

Meanwhile in London, the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, announced that a renewed Scotland Yard investigation into phone-hacking allegations at the newspaper had produced insufficient evidence to mount any prosecutions.

In court, Coulson denied all of the allegations and at one point suggested that Sheridan lived in "a parallel universe". He said: "I like to think I was professional. I like to think I applied certain standards. I like to think we worked hard at the News of the World."

In a series of tense exchanges, Sheridan asked him: "Is it collective amnesia you have got, Mr Coulson, or are you just lying?" Coulson replied: "I'm not lying to you, Mr Sheridan. No. I'm doing my very best to answer your questions."

Sheridan asked Coulson about his relationship with Andy Hayman. He said that he had been an assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard and he believed Hayman had headed the inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal at the paper. Coulson said he had been on '"not unfriendly terms" with Hayman during his time at the News of the World: "I may have seen him socially, but we were not pals. I may have had a meal with him. I certainly had a cup of tea with him."

Sheridan asked whether at the time that Andy Hayman was supervising the inquiry into phone hacking at the paper, Coulson had been in possession of personal information about him "which might have prevented yourself being thoroughly investigated". Coulson said this was not true.

Sheridan said: "You're under oath, Mr Coulson."

"I know I'm under oath," Coulson replied. "My answer is still no."

Later, Sheridan suggested that the paper had been aware at the time of the investigation that Hayman had been having an affair with a press officer from the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Coulson denied this. Sheridan added that Hayman had later resigned and taken work with The Times, part of News International which also owns the News of the World. Coulson replied: "If you're insinuating there was some kind of a deal done, it's utter nonsense."

Sheridan asked him if he agreed that Hayman's move from Scotland Yard to News International "stinks of corruption".

"I absolutely disagree with you, Mr Sheridan. I think it's nonsense."

Sheridan confronted Coulson with extracts from Glenn Mulcaire's paperwork, seized by Scotland Yard in August 2006, which contained notes made by the investigator of Sheridan's mobile phone number, address and PIN code. Coulson said he knew nothing about it: "I know what I have read. And as I understand it, he would seek to access people's voicemail either by inputting the PIN code, I assume, or through some other means. I just don't know exactly how Mr Mulcaire worked."

He said he had never met, spoken to or emailed him: "I hadn't heard of Glenn Mulcaire until after the court case."

He agreed that he was aware that the News of the World had a contract worth more than £100,000 a year with Glenn Mulcaire's company, Nine Consultancy, but he said he had never asked what the contract was for and could not remember if the company had provided any particular facts for the paper. "Whatever work Nine Consultancy carried out under this legitimate contract I would have expected to be legitimate, legal work."

Sheridan asked Coulson if he was aware that the information commissioner's office had run an inquiry known as Operation Motorman which found that, during his time at the News of the World, 21 of his reporters had used a private investigator named Steve Whittamore to gain illegal access to confidential data. Coulson agreed that the paper employed about 40 news reporters but suggested that it was unfair to say that more than half of them had used Whittamore, since the evidence collected by Operation Motorman covered a period of some years and that some of the 21 reporters could have been freelancers.

Asked if he was aware that Whittamore had been convicted of criminal access to data in April 2005 "under your watch", Coulson said: "I was aware that there was a case. I didn't know what the charge was or what it resulted in. I could be wrong, I don't believe it resulted in charges against News of the World reporters."

In relation to Whittamore, he added: "I wasn't involved in that in any way, shape or form. I hadn't heard of the guy until after Motorman. I never met him. I never spoke to him. I never dealt with him."

Sheridan suggested it was "hard to understand how it could be that, while all this illegal activity was going on under your nose, you didn't know anything about it". Coulson conceded that things had gone badly wrong under his editorship but repeated that he had known nothing about it. He said he did not micromanage his staff and trusted them to do their jobs.

Asked about the police inquiry that led to the arrest of Mulcaire and Goodman in August 2006, Coulson said that he could not remember whether police had searched his desk at the newspaper's Wapping headquarters. "I think not," he added. He could not remember whether police had searched the desk of any reporter other than Goodman.

Sheridan put it to Coulson that he had emailed Goodman asking him "to take the blame for the phone-hacking scandal for the good of the paper". Coulson replied: "No. I did not." He asked Sheridan whether he had such an email. Sheridan replied that Clive Goodman was being "cited" as a witness, the Scottish term for being called to give evidence.

Sheridan asked whether he was aware that a recent police inquiry had led to the suspension from the News of the World of a reporter named Dan Evans. He suggested that this undermined the News of the World's claim that Goodman, the paper's former royal reporter who was jailed for phone hacking in January 2007, was a "rogue reporter".

Coulson agreed that Evans had been recruited as a feature writer during his time as editor but said that his supension had happened long after he had left the paper: "I'm not aware of the details of the Dan Evans case. I may have seen something about it in the paper."

Asked about claims by the former News of the World reporter Sean Hoare that he had been "fully aware" of illegal activities at the paper, Coulson said he had volunteered to talk to police about these allegations. "I sat down with them voluntarily as a witness. I answered all their questions and I'm confident and remain confident that there is no evidence to support the accusations. That's my position."

The trial continues.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec...idan-trial

[Jan Klimkowski]

Scotland Yard's finest rozzers, News International and the Tory Spin Machine are covering their filthy tracks:

Phone-hacking scandal: Yard move may hide journalists' spy roles

Scotland Yard says that public figures must supply evidence of a crime before material is handed over

Nick Davies guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 December 2010 16.55 GMT

The Metropolitan police have moved to close off the supply of information which could identify senior journalists at the News of the World who commissioned illegal phone hacking.

In a change of policy which has significant implications for the prime minister's media adviser, Andy Coulson, who used to edit the paper, police have said they will no longer provide all public figures with a summary of potentially relevant phone-hacking evidence in their possession.

The move relates to a mass of paperwork, computer records and audio tapes that police seized from the paper's private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, in August 2006.

This material is believed to include the names of senior journalists who worked for Coulson and who instructed Mulcaire to target named public figures including politicians, sports personalities and showbusiness figures.

Police now admit privately that they failed to fully analyse this material during their original inquiry.

More recently, they have refused repeatedly to go back and investigate it and, when judges have ordered them to release particular portions of the material for court cases, they have blacked out large sections, including most of the references to the journalists who instructed Mulcaire.

However, until now, they have been willing to give public figures who contacted them a brief summary of references to them in the seized material.

According to Scotland Yard, 194 people have contacted them for these summaries since last July when the Guardian revealed the scale of phone hacking at the News of the World.

Scotland Yard has now changed its policy and their lawyers are replying to requests from public figures by telling them that they will hand over a summary of the material that was held on them by Mulcaire only if the public figure can persuade them that there are "reasonable grounds" for believing that their voicemail was intercepted.

One of the lawyers acting for suspected victims, Mark Lewis, from Taylor Hampton solicitors, said: "It's a bit like the police discovering that your house has been burgled, but you don't know that it's happened – and they won't tell you anything about it unless you can come up with your own evidence to show you've been a victim of the crime.

"It's a transparent attempt to stifle legal claims by concealing evidence. The police are obstructing justice."

On Friday Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, announced that Coulson would not face prosecution after the crown prosecution service spent four weeks studying material from a renewed Scotland Yard investigation.

He said new witnesses had refused to co-operate with the police and there was "no admissible evidence upon which the CPS could properly advise the police to bring criminal charges".

The evidence seized by Scotland Yard includes nearly 3,000 mobile phone numbers. Some of them are included in detailed notes kept by Mulcaire as he recorded his attempts to intercept his targets' voicemail.

Routinely, he used the top left-hand corner of the notes to write the name of the journalist who had chosen each target. On some, he wrote the name 'Clive', referring to Clive Goodman, the News of the World's royal correspondent, who was jailed in January 2007. Other notes are believed to include the first names of other senior journalists who have never even been interviewed by police.

Lawyers for some public figures have complained that they have received misleading information from Scotland Yard. A globally famous actress whose lawyer asked a series of specific questions about Mulcaire and her mobile phones was told that police had no evidence on the points – but they failed to tell her that her name showed up as a target of the investigator. Others received letters, which acknowledged Mulcaire had held information about them, but added that "there is no evidence that your voicemail was intercepted", without explaining that the police had not investigated or attempted to find any evidence on the point.

Senior Yard sources say they are worried about the outcome of a judicial review of their performance which is being sought by the former deputy prime minister John Prescott and others.

In preparation for that case, the Yard's lawyers recently wrote to several dozen public figures offering to review their earlier answer to questions, to ensure they were correct.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec...ation-move

[David Guyatt]

The Yard has become so thoroughly politicized now that, as many ordinary people know to their cost, "policing" has been consigned to a lower rung on the ladder -- often the bottom one.

This latest episode is simply another disgrace and complete distortion of justice. And we all know that Cameron must be giving the orders here, because if his buddy Coulson is forced to resign for his part in the hacking scandal - it will reflect very badly on Cameron.

And who knows what else it might lever open then?

[Jan Klimkowski]

New evidence:

Phone hacking approved by top News of the World executive – new files

High court papers lodged by Sienna Miller's lawyers contradict paper's insistence that a single 'rogue' journalist was involved

Nick Davies guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 December 2010 14.05 GMT

Lawyers have secured explosive new evidence linking one of the News of the World's most senior editorial executives to the hacking of voicemail messages from the phones of Sienna Miller, Jude Law and their friends and employees.

In a document lodged in the high court, the lawyers also disclose evidence that the hacking of phones of the royal household was part of a scheme commissioned by the News of the World and not simply the unauthorised work of its former royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, acting as a "rogue reporter", as the paper has previously claimed.

The 20-page document, written by Sienna Miller's solicitor Mark Thomson and barrister Hugh Tomlinson, cites extracts from paperwork and other records that were seized by police from the News of the World's private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, in August 2006. The material has now been released to the lawyers on the orders of a high court judge.

The document claims Mulcaire's handwritten notes imply that the news editor of the News of the World, Ian Edmondson, instructed him to intercept Sienna Miller's voicemail and that the operation also involved targeting her mother, her publicist and one of her closest friends as well as her former partner, Jude Law, and his personal assistant. During the operation Mulcaire obtained confidential data held by mobile phone companies in relation to nine different phone numbers, the notes reveal.

The document, which has been released to the Guardian by the high court, suggests that the hacking of the two actors was part of a wider scheme, hatched early in 2005, when Mulcaire agreed to use "electronic intelligence and eavesdropping" to supply the paper with daily transcripts of the messages of a list of named targets from the worlds of politics, royalty and entertainment.

The new evidence explicitly contradicts the account of the News of the World and its former editor, Andy Coulson, who is now chief media adviser to the prime minister. The paper and Coulson have always claimed that the only journalist involved in phone hacking was Clive Goodman, who was jailed with Mulcaire in January 2007. Ian Edmondson is the fourth of Coulson's journalists to be implicated in the affair since Goodman was convicted.

The disclosure is gravely embarrassing for Scotland Yard, which has held the information about the two actors in a large cache of evidence for more than four years and repeatedly failed to investigate it. Last week the Crown Prosecution Service announced that there was no evidence to justify further charges after a Yard inquiry that was specifically tasked not to look at the material gathered in 2006.

Sienna Miller is suing the News of the World's parent company, News Group, and Glenn Mulcaire, accusing them of breaching her privacy and of harassing her "solely for the commercial purpose of profiting from obtaining private information about her and to satisfy the prurient curiosity of members of the public regarding the private life of a well-known individual".

The high court paperwork suggests that a sequence of 11 articles published by the News of the World in 2005-2006 about Sienna Miller and Jude Law used information that had been obtained illegally from their voicemail, exposing their thoughts about having children, their travel plans, an argument between the two of them and their discussions about their relationships with other people. This caused her "extreme concern about her privacy and safety as well as enormous anxiety and distress".

The document says that Sienna Miller suspected her mobile phone was not secure and changed it twice, but Mulcaire's handwritten notes show that he succeeded in obtaining the new number, account number, PIN code and password for all three phones. He obtained similar details that would be necessary for hacking the phone of her close friend Archie Keswick; for three phones belonging to her publicist Ciara Parkes; for Jude Law; and for Law's personal assistant, Ben Jackson. The notes show that Mulcaire gathered other data on Sienna Miller's mother and on Archie Keswick's girlfriend.

The document records that at the trial of Clive Goodman it was revealed that Mulcaire wrote the word 'Clive' in the top left-hand corner of his notes of hacking undertaken on Goodman's behalf. According to the high court document Mulcaire's notes for the hacking of Sienna Miller "in several cases were marked 'Ian' in the top left-hand corner, which the claimant infers to be Ian Edmondson". Edmondson was appointed news editor of the News of the World by Andy Coulson and still holds the job.

The new evidence implies that the targeting of the royal household, which led to the original police inquiry, was specifically commissioned by the News of the World. "In or about January 2005 the News of the World agreed a scheme with Glenn Mulcaire whereby he would, on their behalf, obtain information on individuals relating to the following: 'political, royal and showbiz/entertainment'; and that he would use electronic intelligence and eavesdropping in order to obtain this information. He also agreed to provide daily transcripts."

The News of the World and Scotland Yard have previously claimed that Clive Goodman acted alone, as a "rogue reporter", in hacking the royal phones and that they knew nothing about the interception of any voicemail.

Among those named as targets of this wider scheme are six of the victims identified in the original court case in January 2007 and also Sienna Miller's friend, Archie Keswick. Mulcaire is said to have used "deception or other unlawful means" to obtain confidential data from mobile phone companies, to have intercepted the targets' voicemail and to have provided "transcripts and other details" to the News of the World's journalists.

Scotland Yard will have to explain why it failed to inform Sienna Miller and the other targets of evidence it held about them. The Yard had agreed with the Crown Prosecution Service that it would approach and warn all "potential victims". It will also have to explain why it failed to interview Ian Edmondson, who was also named last month in a separate phone hacking case brought by Nicola Phillips, former assistant to the celebrity PR agent Max Clifford. The judge in that case has ordered Glenn Mulcaire to say whether it was Edmondson who instructed him to intercept her voicemail. Mulcaire has appealed against the order.

Scotland Yard also failed to interview three other journalists who have now been implicated. In the perjury trial in Glasgow of the socialist politician Tommy Sheridan, the jury has been shown handwritten notes in which Glenn Mulcaire recorded Sheridan's mobile phone number and PIN code and wrote the word "Greg" in the top left-hand corner. The court has been told that refers to Greg Miskiw, who was an assistant editor at the News of the World under Andy Coulson.

Last year documents revealed by the Guardian showed that Miskiw had signed a contract with Mulcaire, using an alias, offering him £7,000 to bring in a story about the chief executive of the professional footballers' association, Gordon Taylor, whose voicemail was then intercepted; and that one of Coulson's news reporters, Ross Hindley, had emailed transcripts of 35 intercepted voicemails involving Gordon Taylor for the attention of the chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck. Neither Miskiw, Hindley or Thurlbeck was interviewed by the original inquiry.

The new evidence discloses that it was Neville Thurlbeck who signed the formal contract paying Mulcaire £2,019 a week to work exclusively for the News of the World, and that Ian Edmondson subsequently exchanged emails with Mulcaire about extending it. Questioned at Tommy Sheridan's trial last week, Coulson said that this was "a legitimate contract for legitimate, legal work".

The high court material raises questions about the security of data held by mobile phone companies, whose staff may be tricked or bribed into disclosing it. The lawyers have obtained records from Sienna Miller's phone company, Vodafone, which suggest that in November 2005 Glenn Mulcaire, posing as "John from credit control", tricked staff into changing her PIN code. Vodafone will have to explain why it failed to warn her that her voicemail had been accessed. The company has previously claimed that it warned victims among its customers "as appropriate".

A total of more than 20 journalists who worked for the News of the World have told the Guardian, the New York Times and Channel Four's Dispatches that illegal activity assisted by private investigators was commonplace and well known to executives including Coulson. Coulson has always denied this.

More than 20 public figures are now in the early stages of suing the News of the World and Glenn Mulcaire for breach of privacy. The former deputy prime minister John Prescott and others are seeking a judicial review of Scotland Yard's handling of the case, which may lead to a new inquiry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec...r-evidence

[David Guyatt]

I wonder if this is going to end up along the lines of Jonathan' Aitken's "sword of truth" speech he made in court before evidence was submitted showing him to be an outright liar -- followed by time in an open prison.

One can only hope so. :wavey:

PS, nice to see Inspector Knacker of the Yard doing his best to pervert justice eh...

[Jan Klimkowski]

Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks (Wade) know nothing m'lud.

Phone hacking is not systemic and institutional at Murdoch organs m'lud.


Yet again, Murdoch editors are caught with their pants down, and desperately attempt to cover their tracks by blaming some "rogue" hack. Their defence is, of course, complete rubbish.

News of the World suspends assistant editor over phone-hacking claims

Pressure on No 10 press chief mounts as senior NoW executive suspended over alleged role in Sienna Miller case

James Robinson guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 January 2011 21.36 GMT

A senior News of the World executive has been suspended by the paper following a "serious allegation" that he was involved with phone hacking when the paper was edited by Andy Coulson, now the prime minister's director of communications.

It was revealed today that Ian Edmondson, the title's assistant editor, was "suspended from active duties" before Christmas, shortly after the Guardian obtained court documents which apparently showed that he had asked private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to hack into phones belonging to Sienna Miller and her staff in 2005.

The News of the World confirmed in a statement today that Edmondson had been suspended. It said it had launched an internal investigation into the claims and that "appropriate action" would be taken if they were found to be true.

The paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed along with Mulcaire in January 2007 after the two men were found guilty of illegally intercepting phone messages left on mobile phones belonging to members of the royal household. Coulson resigned when the men were sentenced, but he has always insisted that Goodman acted alone and that he and other executives knew nothing about their activities.

If it is proved Edmondson also used Mulcaire's services it would destroy the paper's carefully constructed public defence that Goodman was a rogue reporter. His suspension puts fresh pressure on Coulson, who has consistently maintained that he was unaware of any hacking while editor of the paper between 2003 and 2007. Edmondson was hired by Coulson and was part of the former editor's inner circle.

It also raises embarrassing questions for the Metropolitan police, who failed to interview any News of the World executive during the Goodman/Mulcaire investigation despite the fact that the name "Ian" appears on a number of documents seized from Mulcaire.

The Guardian first revealed in July 2009 that the paper's owner, News Group Newspapers, part of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire, had paid £1m in out-of-court settlements to phone hacking victims. Since then, several people, including Miller, the Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray, former deputy assistant commissioner of the Met Brian Paddick, and Nicola Phillips, a former assistant to publicist Max Clifford, have launched legal actions against either the paper or the Met.

Miller is suing News Group, the subsidiary that publishes the News of the World, and Mulcaire, accusing them of breaching her privacy and of harassing her "solely for the commercial purpose of profiting from obtaining private information about her and to satisfy the prurient curiosity of members of the public regarding the private life of a well-known individual".

In a 20-page document lodged with the high court, the actor's solicitor, Mark Thomson, and barrister, Hugh Tomlinson, cite extracts from paperwork and other records that were seized by police from Mulcaire in August 2006. The material has been released to the lawyers on the orders of a high court judge.

The document claims Mulcaire's handwritten notes imply Edmondson instructed him to intercept Miller's voicemail and that the operation also involved targeting her mother, her publicist and one of her closest friends as well as Jude Law, her former partner, and his personal assistant. During the operation Mulcaire obtained confidential data held by mobile phone companies in relation to nine different phone numbers, the notes reveal.

The document, released to the Guardian by the high court, suggests the hacking of the two actors' phones was part of a wider scheme, hatched early in 2005, when Mulcaire agreed to use "electronic intelligence and eavesdropping" to supply the paper with daily transcripts of the messages of a list of named targets from the worlds of politics, royalty and entertainment.

It also records that at the 2007 trial of Goodman it was revealed that Mulcaire wrote the word "Clive" in the top left-hand corner of his notes of hacking undertaken on Goodman's behalf. According to the high court document, Mulcaire's notes for the hacking of Miller "in several cases were marked 'Ian' in the top left-hand corner, which the claimant infers to be Ian Edmondson". Last night, Labour MP Tom Watson said: "News International's pathetic 'it was only a rogue reporter' defence is imploding. There is now a senior executive appointed by Andy Coulson suspended on allegations of phone hacking. It is time we heard from Rupert Murdoch himself."

In its statement, the News of the World said: "The News of the World has a zero-tolerance approach to any wrongdoing."

Last night the Guardian was unable to reach Edmondson for comment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan...publishing

[Jan Klimkowski]

So much for Cameron Spinmeister Coulson knowing nothing of Edmondson's activities.

Murdoch's goons are attempting to paint Edmondson as a lone rogue hack. Edmondson should be looking to blow the whistle on Murdoch's rotten empire:

Ian Edmondson was at heart of News of the World's operations

Former colleagues paint picture of Ian Edmondson as trusted attack dog under Andy Coulson's reign at News of the World

James Robinson guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 January 2011 20.34

Ian Edmondson, who has been suspended from active duties after allegations that he was linked to phone hacking at the News of the World, was one of Andy Coulson's inner circle of executives when David Cameron's director of communications was editor of the paper, according to a former reporter on the tabloid.

As assistant editor (news), he was one of a handful of senior employees who would discuss sensitive stories privately after editorial meetings had taken place.

"You had an elite and Edmondson was definitely in on that and enjoyed being in on that," the former reporter said. "There would be [the editorial] conference in the morning, then the news desk would be back in [to Coulson's office] and it was discussed in privacy. Then the stories would be dished out [to reporters]."

Edmondson was hired by Neil Wallis, then Coulson's deputy editor at the paper, in November 2004 as a news executive although, according to the former News of the World source, "Edmondson reported directly to Andy because he was the editor. Wallis had a nice title and a bit of power ... but Andy was in charge of that paper."

He remembers Coulson buying his senior editorial team, including Edmondson, replica England shirts with their names emblazoned on the back.

Edmondson had been a reporter at the News of the World but left to take up a more senior role at the Sunday People in early 2000, before Coulson became editor in 2003. Coulson promoted Edmondson to assistant editor (news) in October 2005.

From his place at the heart of the news operation, he would have been privy to the big scoops the paper published each week. In the case of Edmondson's ex-colleague Clive Goodman, the paper's former royal editor, some of those scoops involved paying the private detective Glenn Mulcaire to hack into phone messages left on mobile phones belonging to public figures.

Goodman and Mulcaire were jailed in 2007. Coulson resigned and has always maintained Goodman was a rogue reporter acting alone. It is now alleged by lawyers acting for Sienna Miller, who is suing the News of the World for breach of privacy, that Edmondson was aware of that practice.

The paper's owner, News Group, has suspended Edmondson until the outcomes of Miller's legal action and a separate case being brought by Nicola Phillips, a former assistant to the publicist Max Clifford, are known.

Fleet Street sources claim Coulson and Edmondson knew each other professionally before he joined the paper, although they were not close. "I don't think they were particularly big buddies," said one journalist who worked with Edmondson and knew him well. "But Edmondson was a good attack dog in a nice suit a Coulson sort of person. He was very tough and reporters feared him."

That is not unusual for a news executive at a Sunday tabloid whose reputation rests on breaking stories although the former News of the World reporter insisted Edmondson was "universally loathed".

The former Fleet Street colleague said: "He was not well liked because he was so ambitious, but he was bright. He was dealing with tabloid stuff … but he could just as easily have made it on a broadsheet."

A keen runner and a boxing fanatic, Edmondson took part in at least one "white-collar" boxing bout and idolised boxers. The key question now is whether he knew that widespread phone-hacking was taking place and, if so, which other senior executives at the paper, including Coulson himself, might also have been aware of it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan...on-profile

[David Guyatt]

Fresh phone-hacking document to increase pressure on News of the World

Fresh phone-hacking document to increase pressure on News of the World
Police to release previously undisclosed records
Details may put pressure on Andy Coulson

Jamie Doward
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 9 January 2011 00.05 GMT


The documents are expected to trigger fresh allegations of phone-hacking at the News of the World, formerly edited by Andy Coulson. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian
The scandal threatening to engulf the News of the World will intensify this week when the Metropolitan police hands over previously undisclosed documents relating to the hacking of celebrities' mobile phones while the paper was edited by Andy Coulson, David Cameron's communications director.

The documents are expected to trigger fresh allegations that phone hacking at the paper was extensive and not the work of "one rogue reporter" as it has maintained. The fear for News International, the parent company of the News of the World, owned by Rupert Murdoch, is that the documents may contain the names of commissioning journalists.

Scotland Yard has until Wednesday to comply with a court order obliging it to provide lawyers representing the sports agent Skylet Andrew with material relating to the hacking of his phone which was recovered by police from the offices of Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator in the pay of the newspaper.

Andrew, who represents Ashes hero James Anderson, the former England footballer Sol Campbell and the Stoke City player Jermaine Pennant, is one of the leading sports agents in the UK.

The imminent disclosure comes as the News of the World defends itself against a legal action brought by the actor Sienna Miller. Ian Edmondson, the News of the World assistant editor, has been suspended amid allegations he sanctioned the hacking of Miller's phones. His suspension triggered a request from Scotland Yard for the newspaper to share any new information it had on the scandal.

Disclosure of Andrew's files is viewed by lawyers as of equal significance to the Miller revelations. The documents relate to the original 2006 hacking case involving the interception of royal aides' phones that resulted in the jailing of Mulcaire and the paper's former royal editor and gossip columnist Clive Goodman. During the trial, Mulcaire also pleaded guilty to intercepting the phones of Andrew and four other high-profile figures.

At the time the News of the World denied knowing anything about this additional hacking which, along with Andrew, involved the supermodel Elle Macpherson, the MP Simon Hughes, the publicist Max Clifford, and the former head of the Professional Footballers' Association, Gordon Taylor.

Clifford, however, sued the newspaper, dropping his case only after accepting a reported £1m to settle out of court, a move that meant all the files taken from Mulcaire's office by the Met and disclosed to the publicist's legal team never made it into court. Taylor also settled for a substantial sum, a decision that again meant potentially damaging files never entered the public domain.

But Andrew has pursued a low-profile legal action, and the release of the Met's files relating to his case, which must also be shared with lawyers representing the News of the World, means the newspaper could yet be forced to defend itself in court.

Andrew's legal team will be keen to discover to what extent, if any, the files refer to Goodman, Edmondson, Greg Miskiw, the paper's former assistant editor, and its chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, who all face allegations they knew phone hacking was taking place. Rupert Murdoch, when questioned about the affair last year, said: "There was one incident more than five years ago ... the person who bought the bugged conversation was immediately fired. If anything was to come to light, and we have challenged those people who have made allegations to provide evidence ... we would take immediate action."

Coulson, who resigned as editor of the News of the World after Goodman and Mulcaire were sentenced, has denied knowing hacking was taking place on his watch. David Cameron has staunchly defended his director of communications. But investigations by the Guardian suggested phone hacking was widespread on the newspaper under Coulson.

News International faces questions about whether it will offer Edmondson a pay-off to leave the paper or whether it will itself take legal action against its senior employee. Further pressure on News International will come this week when a cross-party parliamentary committee again discusses the scandal. The Observer understands that in the past few days several more celebrities whose phones were also allegedly hacked, have signed up with law firms to bring actions against the newspaper.

Today a spokesman for News International said it had no comment. A spokeswoman for the News of the World also declined to speak.

[David Guyatt]

Things are growing more and more interesting in the phone-hacking affair. It seems there is blood in the water.

Inspector Knacker of the Yard (i.e., political ADC, John Yates), has written a CYA letter to DPP, putting the onus on the pols on how to proceed -- or not. And if not, the buck stops with you...

[The conclusions should be provided to you in the first instance for you to then advise me as to what, if any, further action may be required.[/quote]

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?...=46552&c=1

DPP to revisit case for phone-hack prosecution

14 January 2011
By PA Media Lawyer

Prosecutors are to conduct a "comprehensive assessment" of all material collected by Scotland Yard linked to the phone hacking scandal.

Director of Prosecutions Keir Starmer said the move will ascertain whether there is any material which could spark a fresh prosecution.

A senior QC will re-examine all material collected as part of the original inquiry and any new evidence that has come to light.

A CPS spokeswoman said: "The Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has today agreed that the Crown Prosecution Service will conduct a comprehensive assessment of all material in the possession of the Metropolitan Police Service relating to phone hacking, following developments in the civil courts.

"The exercise will involve an examination of all material considered as part of the original investigation into Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire and any material which has subsequently come to light.

"The assessment will be carried out by the principal legal adviser, Alison Levitt QC.

"The purpose of this assessment is to ascertain whether there is any material which could now form evidence in any future criminal prosecution relating to phone hacking."

Mulcaire and former News of the World reporter Goodman were jailed at the Old Bailey in January 2007 after they admitted intercepting messages.

The latest development came after actress Sienna Miller lodged documents in the High Court linking a third person with the scandal.

Miller is suing the News of the World's parent company and Mulcaire, accusing them of breaching her privacy and of harassment.

It emerged earlier this month that News of the World executive Ian Edmondson has been suspended as a result of her claims.

Scotland Yard detectives subsequently wrote to the Sunday newspaper asking for any new evidence staff had on the case.

Metropolitan Police Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates discussed the decision with Mr Starmer earlier today.

In a letter to the DPP, he said there "remain outstanding public, legal and political concerns" about the scandal.

"As a result, I consider it would be wise to invite you to further re-examine all the material collected in this matter.

"This would also enable you to advise me and assure yourself as to whether there is any existing material which could now form evidence in any future criminal prosecution relating to phone hacking.

"The conclusions should be provided to you in the first instance for you to then advise me as to what, if any, further action may be required.

"We both understand that any future action will always be for the police to consider independently."

A News of the World spokeswoman said: "We will, of course, co-operate fully with any inquiries relating to the assessment by the CPS."