[ISN] UK tabloid in phone hacking probe

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/09/phone_hack_probe/

By John Leyden
The Register
9th July 2009

Newspapers owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch have been accused of 
secretly paying over £1m to settle three cases involving the alleged use 
of illegal phone tapping against celebrities.

News Group reporters allegedly hired unscrupulous private investigators 
to gain access to mobile messages, as well as bank statements and tax 
returns. The settled cases provide evidence that former News of the 
World royal editor, Clive Goodman, jailed for hacking into the voicemail 
messages of royal aides in January 2007, was caught using an 
unscrupulous practice in much wider use among tabloid reporters in 
Wapping.

The Guardian, which broke the story, quotes unnamed Met police 
detectives who said that during the Goodman inquiry, officers found 
evidence that News Group reporters used PIs to hack into "thousands" of 
mobile phones.

Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers Association, sued 
the News of the World over allegations that he was targeted in an 
illegal wiretapping operation, and received £700K in damages and legal 
costs in exchange for dropping the case and agreeing to comply with a 
gagging order, according to The Guardian. Other targets of the celebrity 
muck-raking operation included model Elle MacPherson, former deputy 
prime minister John Prescott and celebrity PR Max Clifford, The Guardian 
reports.

[...]


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