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news media phone hacking scandal Phone hacking by news organizations became the subject of scandals that raised concerns about illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media organizations in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia between 1995 and 201 ...
is a controversy over illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media organizations that reportedly occurred in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia between 1995 and 2011. This article includes reference lists for various topics relating to that scandal.


Overview and topics

These lists are organized according to the topics shown below in blue type. By 2002, the practice of publications using private investigators to acquire confidential information was widespread, with some individuals using illegal methods. Victims of these illegal methods included celebrities, politicians, law enforcement officials, solicitors, and ordinary citizens. As this illegal activity became apparent,
arrests An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...
were made and some convictions achieved. Upon learning their privacy had been violated, some victims retained
solicitors A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
and filed suit against news media companies and their agents, in some cases receiving financial payments for violation of privacy. Successful suits and publicity from investigative news articles led to further disclosures, including the names of more victims, more documentary evidence of wrongdoing, admissions of wrongdoing, and potentially related payments. Allegations were made of poor judgement and cover up by news media executives and law enforcement officials. As a result, new investigations were initiated and several senior executives and police officials resigned. There were also significant commercial consequences of the scandal. Individuals included on these lists are reportedly involved as victims, perpetrators, investigators, solicitors, or responsible oversight officials in the phone hacking scandal. Illegal acquisition of information was allegedly accomplished by accessing private voicemail accounts, hacking into computers, making false statements to officials to obtain confidential information, entrapment, blackmail, burglaries, theft of mobile phones and making payments to officials in exchange for confidential information. The kind of information acquired illegally may have include private communication, physical location of individuals, bank account records, medical records, phone bills, tax files, and organizational strategies. There is evidence that illegal acquisition of confidential information continued at least into 2010. Solicitors representing victims were targeted for surveillance by news organizations being sued as recently as 2011. For
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
regarding the background and status of this scandal, see also: :
News media phone hacking scandal Phone hacking by news organizations became the subject of scandals that raised concerns about illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media organizations in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia between 1995 and 201 ...
:
News International phone hacking scandal Beginning in the 1990s, and going as far until its shutdown in 2011, employees of the now-defunct newspaper ''News of the World'' engaged in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Investi ...
: News Corporation scandal


Victims

For
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
on some of the individuals included on the list of victims below, see their Wikipedia pages and: : List of victims of the News International phone hacking scandal : News International phone hacking scandal – victims, apologies, compensation, arrests


Surveillance targets

These are lists of individuals who were targeted for surveillance beyond simple phone hacking by news media organizations. Some were targeted simply to acquire information for developing a story but others were vocal critics of news media companies and may have been targeted to obtain information with which to influence criminal investigations, civil suits, and Parliamentary hearings.


Critics of news media organizations

This list includes a serving police officer, two solicitors with clients suing
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
, and a Member of Parliament. Dates in parentheses indicate the approximate date that surveillance was initiated. # Cook, David; (June 2002) While investigating
Jonathan Rees Jonathan Rees is a British private investigator, and former partner of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan. Early life and career Born in September 1954 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Rees left school and joined the Merchant Navy, then became ...
and Sid Fillery in connection with the 1987 murder of
Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
, Metropolitan Police detective chief superintendent Cook reportedly became a surveillance target of
Glenn Mulcaire Glenn Michael Mulcaire (born 8 September 1970) is an author and English private investigator and former non-league footballer. He was closely involved in the News International phone hacking scandal, and was imprisoned for six months in 2007 for ...
, who was working for ''News of the World.'' Fillery reportedly used his relationship with Alex Marunchak at ''News of the World'' to arrange for Mulcaire to obtain Cook's home address, his internal payroll number at the Metropolitan police, his date of birth and figures for the amount that he and his wife were paying for their mortgage. Surveillance of Cook is also reported to have involved physically following him and his young children, attempts to access his voicemail and that of his wife, and possibly attempts to send a "Trojan horse" email in an attempt to steal information from his computer. Documents reportedly in the possession of the Scotland Yard shows that "Mulcaire did this on the instructions of
Greg Miskiw Greg Miskiw (born Ihor Miskiw; December 1949 – 25 September 2021) was a British journalist and news editor of the defunct tabloid newspaper the ''News of the World''. Career Miskiw was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in December 1949 and is of Ukrai ...
, the paper's assistant editor and a close friend of Marunchak." Attempts also appear to have been made to open letters which had been left in Cook's external postbox, indicating a "possible attempt to pervert the course of justice."
Rebekah Brooks Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and was ...
, then editor for ''News of the World'', was aware of the surveillance. # Watson, Tom; (September 2009) Watson had been at odds with News International since 2006, when he quit as Government Minister and signed a letter demanding that
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
resign as Prime Minister.
Rebekah Brooks Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and was ...
, then editor of News International's ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'', reportedly stated she would not forgive him for this and that she would pursue Watson for the rest of his life. Watson found himself targeted, with strangers going through his rubbish and harassing his family. As a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, he confronted News International executives with critical observations and probing questions. While the Committee was holding hearings leading to a formal report on phone hacking, three as yet unnamed News International executives arranged for Watson to be put under surveillance by private investigator and former policeman, Derek Webb. # Lewis, Mark; (May 2010) While Lewis was representing claimants against ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' for phone hacking, its parent company,
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
, hired Derek Webb to put Lewis and his family under surveillance. This was reportedly part of an attempt to gather evidence for false smears about his private life and thereby interfere with his ability to represent clients. The attempt to discredit the solicitors may also have been intended to protect the reputation of
Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...
, formerly editor of ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' who subsequently became head of communications for the Conservative Party and senior media adviser to Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
. A dossier including video taken of his ex-wife and daughter was given to Tom Crone, the senior legal manager at News International.
James Murdoch James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is an American - British businessman. He is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019. He was the chairma ...
was executive chairman of the company at the time. Lewis told the Leveson Inquiry that "News International sought to destroy my life, and very nearly succeeded." # Harris, Charlotte; (January 2011) Like Mark Lewis, Harris also came under surveillance by an agent of
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
while representing clients suing the company in relation to phone hacking by ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
''." Her pursuit of evidence for her clients led to disclosure of information that reportedly resulted in the firing of Ian Edmondson from ''News of the World'' and the resignation of the prime minister's media adviser,
Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...
. Also like Lewis, both she and her family were followed and video-taped, with a dossier given to News International's Tom Crone. The private investigator, Derek Webb, was asked to establish that Harris was having an affair with someone it turned out that she had never met. Over the years, News International had engaged Webb to target more than 90 people.


Other surveillance targets

In November 2011, Channel 4 News disclosed a list of 153 people upon whom private investigator Derek Webb was reportedly asked by the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' to carry out surveillance between 2003 and 2011. Listed below are celebrities, politicians and other public figures. Excluded from the list are those who seem to be ordinary members of the public. *
Ainsley Harriott Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott (born 28 February 1957) is an English chef and television presenter. He is known for his BBC cooking game shows '' Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' and ''Ready Steady Cook''. Early life Harriott was born in Paddingt ...
* Alan Johnson MP *
Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...
*
Alan Titchmarsh Alan Fred Titchmarsh (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster and writer. After working as a professional gardener and a horticultural journalist, he became a radio and television presenter and a novelist. Early career Alan Fred T ...
*
Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...
* Amie Buck * Andy Gray *
Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
* Anna Fazackerley * Ashley Cole * Ben Freeman * Benjamin Mwarawairi * Beverley Turner *
Bob Crow Robert Crow (13 June 1961 – 11 March 2014) was an English trade union leader who served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) from 2002 until his death in 2014. He was also a member of ...
*
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
* Charles Clarke MP *
Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 19591 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015. Kennedy wa ...
* Charlotte Harris * Chelsy Davy * Chris Coleman *
Chris Huhne Christopher Murray Paul Huhne (born 2 July 1954) is a British energy and climate change consultant, and former journalist, business economist and politician who was the Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh ...
*
Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...
*
Clare Short Clare Short (born 15 February 1946) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003. Short began her career as a civil servant. A member of the Labour Party until 2006, she was Member o ...
*
Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp i ...
*
Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...
and his parents *
Danny Cipriani Danny Cipriani (; born 2 November 1987) is an English former professional rugby union player. He most recently played for Premiership Rugby side Bath and previously played for Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Wasps in the Premiership and Melbourn ...
*
David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...
*
David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...
*
David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...
*
Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to bec ...
*
Derek Draper Derek William Draper (15 August 1967 – 3 January 2024) was an English political lobbyist and psychotherapist. As a political advisor, he was involved in two political scandals: " Lobbygate" in 1998, and another in 2009 while he was edito ...
*
Dirk Kuyt Dirk Kuijt (; born 22 July 1980), anglicised to Kuyt, is a Dutch former professional footballer and the current manager of Pro League club Beerschot. Originally starting out as a forward, he played much of his career as a right winger. Kuyt b ...
*
Duke of Westminster Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ...
* Earl Spencer *
Elle Macpherson Eleanor Nancy Macpherson ( ; ; born ) is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress. She is known for her record five cover appearances for the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' beginning in the 1980s, leading to her ...
* Eric Joyce MP *
Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is the curr ...
*
Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Bruno (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 1995 to 1996. At regional level, he held the European heavyweight ...
*
Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...
*
Gabby Logan Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted '' Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She h ...
*
Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), better known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer who achieved fame and success during the 1970s and 1980s. His career ended after he was convicted of downloading child pornography i ...
*
Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
*
Geoff Hoon Geoffrey William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary, Transport Secretary, Leader ...
*
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
* Gloria De Piero *
Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...
* Gordon Taylor * Grace Ononiwu * Grant Bovey *
Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...
*
Heather Mills Heather Anne Mills (born 12 January 1968) is an English former model, businesswoman and animal rights activist. Mills first came to public attention in 1993 when she was a model and was run over by a police motorcycle in London. The accident ...
* Hilary Perrin *
Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English media personality and former professional footballer. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven year ...
* Jackiey Budden *
James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British rowing and endurance athlete, double Olympic gold medalist and winner of six world championship titles. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours ...
*
Jane Goldman Jane Loretta Anne Goldman''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 11 June 1970) is a British screenwriter and producer. She is mostly known for collaborating with director Matthew Vaughn on ...
*
Jessie Wallace Karen Jane Wallace (born 25 September 1971), known professionally as Jessie Wallace, is an English actress. She made her acting debut in the television police series ''The Bill'' and rose to prominence for her role as Kat Slater on the BBC so ...
* Joanne Armstrong *
John Motson John Walker Motson (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Mo ...
*
John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...
*
Johnny Vaughan Jonathan Randal Vaughan (born 16 July 1966) is an English television and radio presenter and a film critic. He was the main presenter of '' Capital Breakfast'' alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011. Vaughan currently ...
*
José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...
*
Justine Greening Justine Greening (born 30 April 1969) is a British former politician who was the Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transport f ...
*
Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen (born 27 June 1980) is a former England international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest England batsmen to have played the game, and renowned for his competitive, and often controversial nature. He was a ri ...
* Kimberley Fortier * Lee Chapman *
Leslie Grantham Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor who played "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West Germany, West German ...
* Lord Coe * Lord Goldsmith * Lord Irvine * Lord Macdonald *
Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...
*
Mark Bosnich Mark John Bosnich (; born 13 January 1972) is an Australian former professional association football, soccer player who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper, and sports pundit. He played in England for Premier League clubs ...
* Maxine Carr * Michelle Lineker * Mike Hancock *
Ms. Dynamite Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards. Early years She was born Naomi Arleen M ...
*
Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. After graduating from Oxford, Lawson worked as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of ''The Sunday Times'' in ...
*
Paul Burrell Paul Burrell (born 6 June 1958) is a former servant of the British Royal Household and latterly butler to Diana, Princess of Wales. Background and Royal Household career Burrell was born and raised in Grassmoor, Derbyshire, a coal-mining ...
*
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
*
Paul Ross John Paul Ross (born 31 December 1956) is an English television and radio presenter, journalist and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross. Early life Growing up in outer east London, Ross was ...
*
Peaches Geldof Peaches Honeyblossom Geldof (13 March 1989 – 7 April 2014) was an English columnist, television personality, and model. Born and raised in London, Geldof was educated at Queen's College after her parents' divorce in 1996, and later moved to ...
*
Peter Andre Peter Andre (born Peter James Andrea; 27 February 1973) is a British-Australian singer, songwriter, and media personality. Born in England to Cypriot parents and raised in Australia, Andre achieved success in the mid-1990s as a singer, topping ...
*
Peter Kenyon Peter Kenyon (born 1954 in Stalybridge, Cheshire) is a British businessman who has served as the chief executive of English Premier League football clubs Manchester United and Chelsea, where he has been involved in contentious transfer dealings. ...
*
Phil Woolas Philip James Woolas (born 11 December 1959) is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the ...
*
Phillip Schofield Phillip Bryan Schofield ( ; born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter. He began his career as a Children's BBC continuity announcer from 1985 to 1987, and went on to present a wide range of high-profile programmes for the BBC and ...
*
Pollyanna Woodward Pollyanna Woodward (born 11 June 1982) is a British television presenter, best known for being a co-presenter on Channel 5's ''The Gadget Show''. Career The youngest of six children, aged 16 she was offered a place at the Carlton Television Jun ...
*
Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...
*
Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...
*
Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
*
Richard Madeley Richard Holt Madeley ( born 13 May 1956) is an English television presenter and writer. Alongside his wife Judy Finnigan, he presented ITV's '' This Morning'' (1988–2001) and the Channel 4 chat show ''Richard & Judy'' (2001–2008). Madeley ...
*
Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (; 7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Adrian Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University, and was a pioneer of alternative come ...
*
Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for TNT Sports. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and ...
*
Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...
* Rosie Reid *
Shabana Mahmood Shabana Mahmood (born 17 September 1980) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice since 2024. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Ladywood since 2010, and is ...
* Shahid Malik * Shalimar Wimble *
Sienna Miller Sienna Rose Diana Miller (born 28 December 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian '' Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli Cale ...
*
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
*
Simon Hoggart Simon David Hoggart (26 May 1946 – 5 January 2014) was an English journalist and broadcaster. He wrote on politics for ''The Guardian'', and on wine for ''The Spectator''. Until 2006, he presented '' The News Quiz'' on BBC Radio 4. His journa ...
* Simon Jordan * Sophie Anderton *
Stephen Twigg Stephen Daniel Twigg (born 25 December 1966) is a British Labour Co-op politician who has served as the 8th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association since August 2020. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Me ...
* Steve Arnold *
Steve McFadden Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor whose career has spanned three decades. He rose to prominence for his role as longstanding character Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has ...
*
Sue Cleaver Susan Owen (née Cleaver, born 2 September 1963) is an English actress. She is best known for portraying the role of Eileen Grimshaw on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', which she played from 2000 to 2025. In 2024 Cleaver became a pan ...
* Ted Terry * Tom Watson MP *
Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh former professional football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 2 ...
*
Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...
*
Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor Lawson McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with Independent Television News (ITN). McDonald began his career working as a ...
* Vanya Seager *
Zoe Williams Zoe Abigail Williams (born 7 August 1973) is a Welsh columnist, journalist, and author. Early life Zoe Abigail Williams was born on 7 August 1973 in Hounslow, London. Williams was educated at the independent Godolphin and Latymer School for g ...


Solicitors

This is an alphabetical list of solicitors involved in the phone hacking scandal.


Alleged victims of phone hacking

The list of alleged victims of phone hacking includes some solicitors.
The Law Society The Law Society of England and Wales (officially The Law Society) is the professional association that represents solicitors for the jurisdiction of England and Wales. It provides services and support to practising and training solicitors, as ...
noted that it would be a serious offence if this hacking was done with the intention of affecting judicial outcomes. # Kirsty Brimelow; prominent criminal barrister who has represented clients in rape and murder trials. # Harris, Charlotte; solicitor representing alleged victims of phone hacking # Lewis, Mark; solicitor representing as many as 70 alleged victims of phone hacking including Milly Dowler's family # Stephens, Mark; solicitor whose clients have included James Hewitt, who allegedly had an affair with Princess Diana, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. # Winskell, Robin; sports attorney who has represented prominent footballers in disciplinary trials, FIFA arbritrations, and libel cases.


Representing victims of illegal acquisition of confidential information

# Tamsin Allen; # Charlotte Harris; Partner at the London law firm Mishcon de Reya who represented Max Clifford, who received £400,000 from ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
''. misrepresented as advanced payment for stories. They also paid Harris's costs. Harris has gone on to act for numerous individuals with hacking claims. #Steven Heffer, Partner and Head of Media & Privacy at London law firm Collyer Bristow LLP, who acted for about 80 victims. # Mark Lewis; As solicitor for the Professional Footballers' Association in 2005, Lewis realized that ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' was using phone hacking as the basis for a story concerning Gordon Taylor. In 2008, Lewis became the first solicitor to bring a claim for a client relating to phone hacking and went on to win a settlement from the newspaper for phone hacking. Taylor received £700,000. While represent clients against News International, the company hired a private investigator to put Lewis and his family under surveillance. Lewis lost his position at George Davies Solicitors L.L.P because the firm did not want to be involved in his suits. In 2011 Lewis acted for the family of Milly Dowler achieving a record £3 million deal. He joined Taylor Hampton Solicitors in London. Lewis has represented about 100 claimants against the News of the World and other newspapers and has explored filing phone hacking suits in the US. # Gerald Shamash; # David Sherborne; # Mark Stephens; partner at the London law firm Finers Stephens Innocent representing 11 tranche 1 claimants, all of which settled pre-trial. He is reportedly representing a dozen claimants in tranche 2. # Mark Thomson; among others, represented
Siobhain McDonagh Dame Siobhain Ann McDonagh (born 20 February 1960) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitcham and Morden since 1997. She served as an Assistant Whip in the Labour Government, but was dismisse ...
MP in relation to invasion of privacy allegedly associated with attempts by agents of ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' to break codes necessary to access information on her stolen mobile phone. #
Hugh Tomlinson Hugh Richard Edward Tomlinson KC (born January 1954 in Leeds) is a barrister in England and Wales, an English translator of the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and a founding member of Matrix Chambers. He is a specialist in media and information ...
; QC Barrister, advised the high court around September 2012 that 395 people had applied for disclosure of phone-hacking evidence from the Met, that 124 phone-hacking claims had been accepted by the
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
compensation fund, and that something under 300 new claims would be forthcoming. # Chris Waters, Head of Dispute Resolution at London Law Firm Malletts represents Former Boxing World Champion
Chris Eubank Christopher Livingstone Eubank (also Christopher Livingstone Eubank Sr. born 8 August 1966) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 1998. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight and super-middlewei ...
and ex-wife Karron Stephen-Martin in News International Hacking Claims. Waters also acts for numerous other victims in claims against News International. In 2011 a group was formed for the Claimant's solicitors. In addition to Harris and Lewis, several solicitors brought claims including Tamsin Allen, Mark Thomson and Gerald Shamash. Allen was the Claimant Group's first co-ordinator, Thomson took over after Allen settled her claims. There were several other solicitors involved in the group, including Mark Stephens.


Otherwise involved in phone hacking scandal

# Lawrence Abramson; As solicitor at Harbottle & Lewis, Abramson sent a letter 29 May 2007 stating H&L's review of emails provided by
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
did not indicate involvement in phone hacking by other than Clive Goodman. This letter was subsequently used by News International executives to maintain that Goodman was a single "rogue reporter." When Lord Kenneth Macdonald reviewed the emails again in July 2011, he reported "evidence of serious criminal offences" including payments to police. # Pike, Julian; Partner at Farrer & Co; represented the
News Group Newspapers News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...
subsidiary of
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
during the 2008 settlement negotiations leading to payment of £425,000 plus costs to Gordon Taylor. Pike told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 19 October 2011 that he had informed News International of evidence suggesting "a powerful case" could be made that three ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' journalists had illegally accessed confidential information. News International maintained through 2009 that only
Clive Goodman Clive Goodman (born 17 September 1957, in Hammersmith, London) is an English journalist, former royal editor and reporter for the ''News of the World''. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone mess ...
had been involved. Pike also told the Committee that Colin Myler met with James Murdoch on 27 May 2008, after Pike had received a copy of the new evidence which had been emailed by Tom Crone to Myler. This meeting was in addition to Myler's meeting with Murdoch and Crone 10 June 2008. Pike had not reported earlier that senior News International personnel had misled Parliament because of professional obligations to his client. Farrer & Co. also represents Queen Elizabeth II. In 2011, Pike advised News International that Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris should be put under surveillance while they were representing clients suing the company. As a result, both of them and their families were followed and video-taped. Pike continued to characterize this apparent attempt to find information with which to discredit opposing solicitors as "unusual" but "justified" and "would do it again tomorrow," even after News International acknowledged that it was "deeply inappropriate." Farrer & Co. also wrote to Lewis threatening to enjoin him from accepting more clients that wanted to sue ''News of the World'' over phone hacking. Pike also discussed the possibility with News International's legal affairs manager, Tom Crone, of making charges of professional misconduct against Lewis and Harris. Lewis told the
Leveson Inquiry The Leveson Inquiry was a judicial public inquiry into the culture, practices, and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal, chaired by Lord Justice Leveson, who was appointed in July 2011. A serie ...
that "News International sought to destroy my life, and very nearly succeeded."


Publications mentioned in the ICO report

This is a list of newspapers and magazines listed in the
Information Commissioner's Office The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It is the independent regu ...
(ICO) report of May 2006 titled ''What Price Privacy?''. The publications are listed in order of the number of pieces of data each paid a private investigator for. This report presented what had been learned from the ICO investigation named
Operation Motorman Operation Motorman was a large operation carried out by the British Army ( HQ Northern Ireland) in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The operation took place in the early hours of 31 July 1972 with the aim of retaking the "no-go areas" (ar ...
, which was begun in 2002. "Information Commissioner Richard Thomas ... revealed that hundreds of journalists may have illegally bought private information and named a list of newspapers and magazines using one particular information agency... Numerous invoices ere foundaddressed to newspapers and magazines which detailed prices for providing the journalists with personal information ... Here is the table listing the ame of the publicationfollowed by number of pieces of data paid for and the number of journalists involved."


Publications

# ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'': 952; 58 . # ''
Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the '' ...
'': 802; 50. # ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'': 681; 45. # ''
The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. Founded in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first published i ...
'': 266; 33. # ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'': 182; 19. # ''
Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...
'': 143; 25. # ''Best Magazine'': 134; 20. # ''
Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
'': 130; 1. # ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'': 103; 4 . # ''
Daily Sport The ''Daily Sport'' was a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom by Daily Sport Ltd., which specialised in celebrity news and softcore pornographic stories and images. The daily paper was launched in 1991 by David Sullivan, followin ...
'': 62; 4. # ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'': 52; 7. # ''
The People The People may refer to: Legal jargon * The People, term used to refer to the people in general, in legal documents * "We the People of the United States", from the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution * In philosophy, economics, and political scienc ...
'': 37; 19. # ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'': 36; 7. # '' Weekend Magazine (Daily Mail)'': 30; 4. # ''
Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
'': 29; 8. # ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'': 24; 4. # '' ''Closer'' Magazine'': 22; 5. # ''
Sunday Sport The ''Sunday Sport'' is a British tabloid newspaper that was founded by David Sullivan in 1986. It mainly publishes images of topless female glamour models, and is well-known for publishing sensationalised, fictionalised, and satirical con ...
15; 1. # '' Night and Day (Mail on Sunday)'': 9; 2. # '' Sunday Business News'': 8; 1. # '' Daily Record'': 7; 2. # ''Saturday Express'': 7; 1. # '' Sunday Mirror Magazine'': 6; 1. # '' Real Magazine'': 4; 1. # ''
Woman's Own ''Woman's Own'' is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women. Publication ''Woman's Own'' was first published in... 1932 by Newnes. In its early years it placed women's rights and social problems firmly in the foreground. Its first "agony aunt ...
'': 4; 2. # '' Daily Mirror Magazine'': 3; 2 . # '' Mail in Ireland'': 3, 1. # '' Daily Star'': 2; 4. # ''
Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...
'': 2; 1. # ''Personal Magazine'': 1; 1.


Publishers

# ''
Associated Newspapers DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at 9 Derry Street in ...
''; publisher of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' # ''
Express Newspapers Northern & Shell (holding company name Northern and Shell Network Ltd) is a British publishing group, founded in December 1974 and owned since then by Richard Desmond. Formerly a publisher of pornographic magazines including '' Penthouse'' and '' ...
''; publisher of the '' Daily Star'' and ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
'' # '' Guardian News & Media''; publisher of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' # ''
Mirror Group Newspapers Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', ''Su ...
'' (MGN); publisher of the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' and the ''
Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...
'' # ''
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
''; publisher of ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'', ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' and the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' # ''
Telegraph Media Group Telegraph Media Group Limited (TMG; previously the Telegraph Group) owns ''The Daily Telegraph'' and '' The Sunday Telegraph'' and is a subsidiary of Press Holdings. David and Frederick Barclay acquired the group on 30 July 2004 from Hollinger I ...
''; publisher of the ''
Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
'' and ''
Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegr ...
''


Individuals acknowledging that confidential information was acquired illegally

This is a chronological list of individuals that acknowledged acquiring confidential information illegally themselves or, from first-hand experience, alleged the practice was widespread by news media companies. Dates in parentheses indicates approximately when each individual made the admission. As of 15 December 2010, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported that more than 20 journalists who worked for ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' had told ''The Guardian'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' or Channel 4's ''Dispatches'' that "illegal activity assisted by private investigators was commonplace and well known to executives, including
Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...
." Coulson has denied having knowledge of phone hacking while he was editor at ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
''. ;Individuals acknowledging that they illegally acquired confidential information # Steve Whittamore; (April 2005)
private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...
# John Boyael; (April 2005) private investigator # Alan King; (April 2005) retired police officer civilian communications officer # Paul Marshall; (April 2005) # Leigh, David; (2006) assistant editor for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' #
Clive Goodman Clive Goodman (born 17 September 1957, in Hammersmith, London) is an English journalist, former royal editor and reporter for the ''News of the World''. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone mess ...
; (2007) royal correspondent for ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' #
Glenn Mulcaire Glenn Michael Mulcaire (born 8 September 1970) is an author and English private investigator and former non-league footballer. He was closely involved in the News International phone hacking scandal, and was imprisoned for six months in 2007 for ...
; (2007) private investigator # Sean Hoare; (September 2010) entertainment journalist for ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' and for ''News of the World'' # Paul McMullan; (September 2010) senior journalist for News of the World ;Individuals alleging that illegal acquisition of confidential information was widespread #
Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
; (2007) former editor of the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'', former editor of the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'', and former show business editor of the ''
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
'' stated that "loads of newspaper journalists were doing it. Clive Goodman, the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' reporter, has been made the
scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
for a widespread practice." # David Brown; (2007) former reporter for ''
The People The People may refer to: Legal jargon * The People, term used to refer to the people in general, in legal documents * "We the People of the United States", from the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution * In philosophy, economics, and political scienc ...
'' who alleged that "reporters on the publisher's Sunday newspaper regularly used phone hacking to get information in the first half of the last decade." The
Trinity Mirror Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...
which publishes the Mirror and Sunday Mirror, called the claims unsubstantiated allegations of a disgruntled, dismissed employee. #
Andrew Neil Andrew Ferguson Neil (born 21 May 1949) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He was editor of ''The Sunday Times'' from 1983 to 1994. He has presented various political programmes on the BBC and on Channel 4. Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire ...
; former editor of ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' and former writer for the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
''; Claimed that phone hacking "was systemic throughout the News of the World, and to a lesser extent ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
." # Sharon Marshall; (2010) entertainment journalist, formerly TV editor for ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' and contributor to ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
''. "Author of the book 'Tabloid Girl' said hacking was widespread at ''News of the World'' and other tabloids." "Sharon Marshall is named as having witnessed hacking when working under Coulson from 2002–2004. "It was an industry-wide thing," she said." # James Hipwell; (18 July 2011) former business journalist at the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
'' # nnamed ''Sunday Mirror'' sources (23 July 2011) claims "techniques were routine, and that they were being used at the news desk, and by designated reporters, virtually every day." # nnamed ''New York Times'' sources">New_York_Times.html" ;"title="nnamed ''New York Times">nnamed ''New York Times'' sources "A dozen former reporters said in interviews that hacking was pervasive at ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
''. "Everyone knew," one longtime reporter said. 'The office cat knew'...
Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...
talked freely with colleagues about the dark arts, including hacking. 'I've been to dozens if not hundreds of meetings with Andy' when the subject came up, said [a] former editor... When Coulson would ask where a story came from, editors would reply, 'We've pulled the phone records' or 'I've listened to the phone messages.'


Individuals who worked for both News International and the police

This is an alphabetical list of individuals who at various times worked for both
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
and the Metropolitan Police Service. #
Andy Hayman Andrew Christopher Hayman CBE QPM (born 1959) is a retired British police officer and author of '' The Terrorist Hunters''. Hayman held the rank of Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary and Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations ...
was with the
Essex Police Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of . The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harring ...
from 1978 until 1998, when he transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service. He became Chief Constable for the
Norfolk Constabulary Norfolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Norfolk in East Anglia, England. The force serves a population of 908,000 in a mostly rural area of , including of coastline and 16 rivers, including the Broads N ...
in 2002 but returned to the Met in February 2005. Hayman was in charge of the Royal Household/Goodman Inquiry in 2006. He resigned from the Met in December 2007 during an investigation of reportedly lavish entertainment expenditures for "long lunches and dinners with ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' journalists at a time when the newspaper was under investigation for phone hacking." Two months later he was hired by
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
, where he wrote an article for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' defending the police investigation he led, maintaining that there were "perhaps a handful" of hacking victims. # Alex Marunchak worked as a freelance Ukrainian language interpreter for the Metropolitan Police Service between 1980 and 2000 while he was also an executive for ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'', where he worked from 1981 to 2006. He provide "interpretation and translation services for victims, witnesses and suspects of crime who do not speak English." Marunchak was a regular customer of private investigator
Jonathan Rees Jonathan Rees is a British private investigator, and former partner of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan. Early life and career Born in September 1954 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Rees left school and joined the Merchant Navy, then became ...
, who was reportedly purchasing information from improper sources. No evidence became public that Marunchak or other journalists had committed criminal offences or that they were aware of how Rees acquired the information. Marunchak reportedly arranged for
Glenn Mulcaire Glenn Michael Mulcaire (born 8 September 1970) is an author and English private investigator and former non-league footballer. He was closely involved in the News International phone hacking scandal, and was imprisoned for six months in 2007 for ...
, then doing work for ''News of the World'', to conduct surveillance on the detective investigating Rees and his partner, Sid Fillery, for murder. #
John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington John Arthur Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, (born 21 October 1942) is a former Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (head of the Metropolitan Police Service), having served from 2000 until 2005. From 1991 to 1996, he was Chief ...
was Met commissioner from 2000 to 2005. He has been credited with reopening communication between the news media and the police after his predecessor, Sir Paul Condon had all but closed it down in the mid-1990s with his anti-corruption drive at Scotland Yard. After retiring, he wrote a column for the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
''. In his autobiography, he stated that he had "worked hard to foster good relations with newspapers and had made himself 'available' to editors including
Rebekah Brooks Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and was ...
(then Wade) at ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'' and
Andy Coulson Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. Coulson was the editor of the ''News of the World'' from 2003 to 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to ...
, then at the ''
News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
''." His diary, which may record meetings between him and
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
executives between February 2000 to January 2005, went missing but was found in October 2011 at New Scotland Yard. In March 2011, he was chairman of security firm Axiom International. #
Neil Wallis Neil John Wallis (born 4 October 1950) is a British former newspaper editor. He is currently a media consultant and media commentator. Early life Wallis was born in Lincolnshire. His mother, from Liverpool, served with the Women's Auxiliary ...
worked for
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
from 1987 to 1998 and again from 2003 to 2009. He then started his own public relations firm, Chamy Media, which provided "strategic communication advice and support" to the Met on a part-time basis from October 2009 to September 2010. Wallis's firm was paid £24,000 by the Met at the same time Wallis received more than £25,000 from
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
for providing "crime exclusives" using details of Met investigations. Wallis was arrested in July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications Also in July, the
Independent Police Complaints Commission The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales. On 8 January 2018, th ...
began an Inquiry into "whether John Yates used his position to help get Wallis's daughter a job at Scotland Yard.


Investigations

For
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
regarding some of the investigations on this list, see also articles for specific Metropolitan Police operations and: : Metropolitan Police role in the news media phone hacking scandal : 2009–2011 News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations : News International phone hacking scandal- UK investigations : News International phone hacking scandal- Renewed investigations


Attempted suicides

On 6 March 2012, Reuters reported that two senior journalists working for ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
'', a newspaper owned by
News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...
, appeared to have attempted suicide in the face of ongoing investigations relating to the phone hacking scandal. At that time, eleven current and former staff members of ''The Sun'' had been arrested on suspicion of bribing police or civil servants for information.


Arrests

For additional
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
regarding some of the arrests on this list, see also: : News International phone hacking scandal- Further arrests


Charged with crimes


Convictions


Key evidentiary documents


Key newspaper articles, press releases, media coverage


See also

* List of people related to the News International phone hacking scandal * Metropolitan Police role in the news media phone hacking scandal * 2009–2011 News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations *
News of the World royal phone hacking scandal The ''News of the World'' royal phone hacking scandal was a scandal which developed in 2005 to 2007 around the interception of voicemail relating to the British royal family by a private investigator working for a ''News of the World'' journalist ...
*
Operation Elveden Operation Elveden was a British police investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police officers and other public officials. It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investiga ...
* Operation Kalmyk * Operation Rubicon *
Operation Tuleta Operation Tuleta is a British police investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of computer hacking, related to the News International phone hacking scandal. As of June 2011, it was reported to have six officers working for ...
*
Operation Weeting Operation Weeting was a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011, under the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of phone hacking in the ''News of the World'' phone hacking affai ...


Wikipedia articles with timelines

# Metropolitan police role in phone hacking scandal – Timeline # News International phone hacking scandal – Timeline # Timeline of the News Corporation scandal


References

{{Use British English, date=November 2020 2007 in law 2007 in the United Kingdom 2011 in law 2011 in the United Kingdom Hacking (computer security) Journalistic scandals Reference lists Police misconduct in the United Kingdom Political scandals in the United Kingdom Telephone tapping ar:قضية تجسس نيوز أوف ذه ورلد على الهواتف ca:Escàndol d'intervencions telefòniques de News International de:News-International-Skandal fr:Scandale du piratage téléphonique par News International id:Skandal peretasan telepon News International ms:Skandal akhbar News of the World godam telefon nl:Afluisterschandaal van News of the World ru:Дело News International ta:நியூசு இண்டர்நேசனல் தொலைபேசி ஒட்டுக்கேட்பு விவகாரம் th:การดักรับข้อมูลทางโทรศัพท์ของนิวส์ออฟเดอะเวิลด์ vi:Bê bối nghe lén của News International zh:世界新闻报电话窃听丑闻