Phone hacking scandal deepens

[Jan Klimkowski]

For those who don't know, Mazher Mahmoud is the Murdoch empire's most notorious investigative journalist. He often dressed up as a sheikh for his "undercover" journalistic scoops, hence the nickname "Fake Sheikh".

There's investigative journalism.

Then there's intimidation, blackmail and corruption posing as investigative journalism.

The Murdoch crime family debases the Fourth Estate.

Again.

And again.

And again.

News of the World's 'fake sheikh' had Tom Watson followed, emails show

Mazher Mahmood, who now works for Sunday Times, appears to have commissioned surveillance of phone-hacking critic

David Leigh and Nick Davies

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 May 2012 10.14 BST

The News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood commissioned surveillance on its chief phone-hacking critic, the Labour politician Tom Watson, in the hope of finding him having an affair, according to email evidence Watson has obtained.

News International's internal investigating group, the management and standards committee, belatedly turned over the emails to a parliamentary committee of which Watson was a member. They implicate Mahmood and two former NoW executives, the assistant editor Ian Edmondson and news editor James Mellor.

This latest revelation of methods at the now-closed NoW will present difficulties for John Witherow, the editor of the Sunday Times. Mahmood, the so-called "fake sheikh" who specialised in controversial undercover investigations, was rehired by the Sunday Times after its sister paper was closed down by Rupert Murdoch, and is still working there.

Witherow has not so far commented on the disclosures.

The attempt by NoW journalists to gain evidence of sexual indiscretions by its arch-critic was launched on the morning of Saturday 26 September 2009, at the start of the Labour party conference. Mahmood claimed in an email to Mellor, copied to Edmondson, that he had received a tip that married Watson was "shagging" a fellow activist, and that he was "creeping into her hotel" at Brighton. The information, from a so-far unknown purported informant, appears to have been completely false.

Mahmood described the MP as a "close lackey" of the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, and noted he was "anti-Blair". It was agreed that a private detective, the former police officer Derek Webb, known as "Silent Shadow", would be hired to stalk Watson through the conference, from 28 September to 2 October, in what proved to be a vain hope of getting confirmation. Had the story been substantiated and published, it would have destroyed his reputation.

According to the emails in Watson's possession, Edmondson described the prospect as a "great story" and added: "You might want to check his recent cutts [cuttings], v interesting!"

Watson at the time believed he was on News International's "enemies list". He was pursuing a libel suit against the Sun for falsely accusing him of involvement in organising online smears against the Conservatives. He was also vigorously pursuing News International on the culture, media and sport committee, where a series of Murdoch executives were mounting an ultimately unsuccessful cover-up of phone-hacking.

Peter Mandelson told the Leveson inquiry on Monday how Rebekah Brooks would "come on to me and complain" that Watson and his colleagues were "hounding" them, and demand: "Couldn't they be pulled away, pulled off?" Brooks, editor of the Sun at the time of the libel, had taken over as chief executive of NI at the beginning of September, in control of both Murdoch tabloids.

On the evening of 29 September, while Derek Webb was still shadowing Watson at his conference hotel, the Sun revealed it was switching political sides, and published a dramatic anti-Brown front page. From then on, it embarked on a ferocious campaign against Gordon Brown and his supporters. Watson is due to give evidence to Leveson on Tuesday..