Met police reopen inquiry into NoW phone hacking
Murdoch tabloid gives 'significant new evidence' to Scotland Yard as Ian Edmondson is sacked by publisher
183 comments - Phone-hacking inquiry - as it happened
- Rupert Murdoch rolls up his sleeves
- From Prince's household to tabloid newsroom
- More on the NoW phone-hacking scandal
Phone hacking: police launch new investigation - live updates
• Scotland Yard has announced a new phone hacking inquiry
• Controversial detective John Yates will not lead the probe
• News of the World executive Ian Edmondson sacked
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• Controversial detective John Yates will not lead the probe
• News of the World executive Ian Edmondson sacked
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Scotland Yard reopened its investigation into phone hacking today – four years after the only convictions in the case – after the News of the World passed on "significant new information" alleged to implicate one of the paper's top executives in the practice.
Shortly afterwards the paper announced that it had sacked its assistant editor (news), Ian Edmondson. This came hard on the heels of the arrival in London of its proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, said to be in town to deal with both the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed the paper and his corporation's bid to take complete control of BSkyB.
The sacking, and the new police investigation, come after 18 months of Guardian reports into allegations of widespread phone hacking at the News of the World.
Until shortly before Christmas the paper had always alleged that only one rogue reporter and a private investigator were involved in the practice, and the police had repeatedly insisted that there was no evidence available to link any other News Corporation employees with hacking.
Tonight a source close to the new police investigation said the latest evidence passed to the Metropolitan police so far amounted to only a small number of emails, although detectives believe there may be many more.
"It's hard to believe these are the only ones. There may be a shedload of shit still to come," said one source.
You can read it in full here. Thanks for reading and for all the comments.
Here's Dan Sabbagh's piece on Rupert Murdoch's whirlwind week so far:
Rupert Murdoch has wasted little time since arriving for work in London on Monday.
Although News Corporation will not confirm who took the decision to dismiss Ian Edmondson, the News of the World assistant editor (news), it has all the hallmarks of an intervention by the man who has run the business since 1953 and who is responsible for every critical decision the multinational media group takes.
Normally, Murdoch's visits to London consist of a two- or three-day stop in Wapping, east London, where the Sun and the Times are based, but the media mogul showed a clear intent to roll his sleeves up when he decided on Monday evening to abandon plans to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in the second part of this week.
He even visited the morning editorial conference today at the Times – for the first time in years – accompanied by Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International. If there was any division between the two, there was little sign of it at the editorial meeting.
My colleague Caroline Davies has the lowdown on the phone hacking story so far – from royal suspicions to Edmondson being sacked via allegations that the Met police has not been thorough enough in its investigations.
Caroline Davies. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian On 8 August 2006, police arrested Goodman and Mulcaire. They seized computer records, paperwork, audio tapes and other material from offices and homes of the two.
The Guardian has established this material included 4,332 names or part-names of people, 2,978 mobile phone numbers, 30 audio tapes which appear to contain recordings of voicemail and 91 pin codes.
When they raided the News of the World, they restricted their search to the desk of Goodman. When they required internal paperwork, they wrote asking for a list of documents rather than obtaining a court order to force disclosure. The paper refused to comply.
Paperwork seized from Mulcaire included an email containing transcripts of voicemail left for the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, Gordon Taylor, and his legal adviser, Jo Armstrong. Sent by a junior reporter, Ross Hall, to Mulcaire, it was marked "for Neville" – the paper's chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck.
The paperwork also included a contract, signed by assistant news editor Greg Miskiw, agreeing to pay Mulcaire an extra £7,000 if he delivered on a Gordon Taylor story.
Thurlbeck, Hall and Miskiw were not interviewed. Nor were any other reporters, editors or managers.
Evidence that the police did not, at that time, fully search and analyse the material seized came after the Guardian disclosed in July 2009 that the News of the World had paid out more than £1m in costs and damages to Taylor and two aides to settle their cases and to seal the court papers.
That police had 91 PIN codes was not mentioned by Assistant Commissioner John Yates in oral evidence to the media select committee in September 2009. After it was disclosed by the Guardian, Yates, in response to a written inquiry by committee chairman John Whittingdale MP, replied that the figure "was not available at the time I came before your committee".
Further evidence of the lack of a full study of the seized material can be found in a February 2010 memo to ministers by Yates's staff officer, Detective Superintendent Dean Haydon, in which he stated that "minimal work was done on the vast personal data where no criminal offences were apparent".
Guardian crime correspondent Vikram Dodd provides this take on Sue Akers, who will lead the new investigation.
The officer appointed to head the new investigation into phone hacking, deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers, head of organised crime and criminal networks in Scotland Yard's specialist crime directorate, is an expert in tackling criminal gangs.
Shehas worked her way up through the ranks, gained experience as a detective, and was formerly a borough commander in Brent, north London. She headed Scotland Yard's directorate of professional standards, a job given to only the most trusted officers.
Brian Paddick, a former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner, praised Akers's record and integrity: "She's very good indeed. Of all the senior people at Scotland Yard that I'm aware of, she would be the one I trust the most. She won't do a whitewash. She's very bright, she is very honest and open and she tells it how it is. She is the least political of all the senior officers at the Yard."
In her role as head of organised crime she is also responsible for Operation Trident, where she tackles gun crime in the African-Caribbean communities in London and heads up
the Met's effort to tackle serious and organised crime.
Here's James Robinson on the other News of the World figures – implicated in the phone hacking saga:
Ian Edmondson is not the only senior News of the World journalist suspected of hacking into mobile phone messages. Five others have admitted to or been accused of involvement in the same crime.
Clive Goodman, the paper's ex-royal editor, pleaded guilty to the charge five years ago. He was jailed in January 2007 for intercepting messages intended for the royal household along with Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator employed by the paper. The NoW insisted Goodman acted alone, but earlier this month Mulcaire said Edmondson commissioned him to hack into phones in a case brought against the paper by football agent Sky Andrew.
Edmondson had been suspended by then, after it emerged in the case that Mulcaire wrote "Ian" in a notebook seized by Scotland Yard in 2006.
A separate action brought by former Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray, also revealed Mulcaire's notebook had a reference to "Greg" – which Gray's lawyers claim is a reference to Greg Miskiw, a former investigations editor.
The Guardian also revealed in 2009 that a transcript of voicemail messages retrieved by Mulcaire had been prepared by a fourth NoW journalist, Ross Hall, who has since left the paper.
The transcript was sent to Mulcaire by Hall in an email containing the message: "This is the transcript for Neville". That appears to refer to Neville Thurlbeck, pictured, who is the paper's chief reporter. The final reporter implicated in the affair is Dan Evans, who was suspended last year on full pay on suspicion of hacking into the phone of an unnamed female celebrity who is also suing the paper. Unlike his colleagues, Evans is accused of acting long after the paper said it had ensured hacking was a thing of the past.
It was about time we had a spoof video, surely? Here's one, courtesy of TrifleNotJelly on Youtube.
"I've never seen this, right?" Political blogger Guido Fawkes is speculating as to who at News International leaked the news that Edmondson was going to Robert Peston – and the motive they may have had for doing so.
Guido merely notes that Pesto is mates with his Muswell Hill neighbour Will Lewis. Will, the former Telegraph editor, who is the newly appointed group manager in Wapping. Watch Pesto's line on developments from Wapping. Don't be surprised if he undermines Rebekah Brooks and bolsters the prospects of Will Lewis. No one really thinks Will Lewis is content to remain general manager under Rebekah…
James Robinson has asked a NI spokesman if Rebekah Brooks is indeed about to depart the company. "Total bollocks", was the spokesman's reponse. That's that then...
Below the line joyus1uk shares their own experience of phone hacking – long before Miller, Wills, Coogan et al were targeted.
At last " good journalistic process " is being shown up for what it is. In the early 1990's when members of my family were subject to newspaper harrasment I had my telephone answer machine remotely accessed by members of the fourth estate. I have waited a long time for the methods of so called "honest journalists" to be exposed. At last the media is the story not just the messenger. Shoot the messenger I want all those who have transgressed to be banged up along with all those who now profit from the salacous and purient stories that have been published.
Thank god for the likes of the Guardian who have toiled to bring this story to the public. The media omerta is now being broken.
Sean O'Neill, crime editor at the Times, tweets that at the moment the information handed to the Met does not implicate anyone other than Edmondson.
"Long investigation" sounds ominous... Roy Greenslade writes in his Guardian blog that with Edmondson sacked, "there must also be question marks over the future of Rebekah Brooks".
Will she survive as Murdoch acts in order to clean up News Int's battered image?Brooks's role is certainly being questioned by many commenters below the line. Could News International's chief exec really be under threat?
In my London Evening Standard column today, I ask whether he could find a way to draw a line under the hacking scandal. Clearly, he believes he has taken a stride towards that.
However, can he be sure that he knows enough to be certain that he has got to the roots of the problem? Has he been given all the necessary information about the dark arts employed by the NoW's journalists?
During my years at News Int, especially during my years at The Sun, it was common to conceal some matters from Murdoch to spare us undue criticism.
Let me stress: there was no illegality. It was usually done to avoid uncomfortable questioning about the spending (over-spending) of money.
It would be far-fetched to say there was a culture of fear (though of my former colleagues would argue that there was). But Murdoch was held in awe. His word was law. It was often considered best if he was left out of the loop.
I've always imagined that Murdoch was aware of these self-protective manoeuvres by his executives, which were - in fairness - largely innocent.
But I suppose it's possible that this activity took a more sinister turn in the wake of the hacking allegations in 2006.
Anyway, he will want to be sure that there are no more nasty surprises, especially in view of the coincidental decision by the Met Police to launch a new investigation after receiving "significant new information".
For years, the News Int line has been that phone-hacking revelations by "the obsessive" The Guardian have no basis in fact. They were part, a News Int executive told me more than once, of a silly conspiracy theory.
There was one rogue reporter, and that was that. The rest was innuendo. But the were sources, admittedly anonymous, who were stating unequivocally that the jailed royal editor, Clive Goodman, was not the only newsroom reporter or executive aware of voicemail interceptions.
Reporters from the New York Times, producers and researchers for Channel 4's Dispatches, and, most notably and originally, The Guardian's reporter Nick Davies, were not indulging in fantasy. Separately, they came across real sources.
Did Murdoch really believe his News International's executives when they said there was nothing to evidence produced by three media organisations with separate sources?
This is Adam Gabbatt taking over from Matt, by the way.
Shall we revisit a quote by John Yates of Scotland Yard, who said in 2009 after reviewing allegations about phone hacking made in the Guardian? He said on 9 July 2009:
This case has been the subject of the most careful investigation by experienced detectives. No additional evidence has come to light. I therefore consider no further investigation is required.
One interesting question to pose is what scrutiny the News Corporation board put to bear on this issue.
Did the independent directors, for example, approve the large payments to people like Gordon Taylor of the professional footballers' association? And what questions, if any, did they ask about whether there was evidence of more widespread involvement of hacking in the newsroom at the News of the World, beyond the jailed royal editor Clive Goodman, once dismissed as a "rogue reporter"?Here's the full (impressive) list:
José María Aznar former PM of Spain.
Natalie Bancroft former opera singer.
Peter Barnes Ansell Ltd
Kenneth E Cowley RM Williams Holdings Pty Ltd
Viet Dinh professor of law, Georgetown University
Rod Eddington JP. Morgan
Andrew SB Knight J Rothschild Capital Management Ltd
Lachlan Murdoch Illyria Pty Ltd.
Thomas J Perkins Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers
John L Thornton Professor and director of global leadership, Tsinghua University of Beijing
Stanley S Shuman Allen & Company LLC
If any of you would like to contact me, I'm @MatthewWells on Twitter.
Charlotte Harris, a solicitor representing another group of public figures threatening to sue News International has a comment on the police investigation. She told my colleague James Robinson:
This time, news of another investigation by the police feels different. It may be that finally it is not just left up to the victims to uncover the truth themselves. It will be interesting to see whether the new information was already available when the original investigation and further review took place.
Chris Mason, political reporter for BBC Radio 5 Live, has information which backs up what our crime correspondent Vikram Dodd told me a few minutes ago.
Something tells me that this new police investigation is going somewhere. The Conservative MP John Whittingdale, who chairs the Commons Culture committee which has investigated Coulson, has been talking to Channel 4 News and says police had "serious questions" to answer.
This has all come about on the basis of information which was available to police five years ago so it begs the question why they never did anything with it.
These are matters which should have been resolved at the time. It's not the fault of the News of the World.
I would say this raises very serious questions about thoroughness and attitudes of the Met police at the time.
Virkam Dodd, our crime correspondent, has some more information on the line in the Scotland Yard statement that it had "significant new information". Vikram tells me:
Vikram says his sources are certain that the presence of Rupert Murdoch in London is driving the latest developments.The significant new information refers to the emails of Ian Edmondson, the News of the World executive who was sacked today. These emails, I'm told, are "capable of being interpreted of showing an awareness of phone hacking".
The News of the World have appointed a new firm of solicitors to deal with the issue, Burton Copeland. This new information relating to Edmondson was passed to Scotland Yard within the last 24 hours. Edmondson is now highly likely to be questioned by police.
Dan Sabbagh, our head of media, has sent me some thoughts on today's developments.
Rupert Murdoch has been in London all week – and now we see the signs of decisive action coming out of News Corporation. He's been in the office since Monday, and has almost certainly personally reviewed the phone hacking files – as it would only be Murdoch who can make a decision of this magnitude.
The question is whether there will be more decisive moves to follow. So far, the decision to sack Edmondson (presumably without a payoff) fits in accordance with the minimialist strategy, in which News Corp makes only incremental concessions in response to what it considers strong evidence.
Edmondson has been in the firing line for weeks, but the real question will be if Rupert Murdoch now goes farther. Will he look carefully at the emails of all News of the World reporters past and present? Other journalists have been named in documents relating to phone hacking, from the still employed Neville Thurlbeck to the former newsdesk executive Greg Miskiw.
And, will he ask why it has taken nearly five years to uncover the offences that led to Edmondson's sacking despite repeated enquiries by both News Corp executives and the police? We shall see – but it is interesting that this decision comes a day after Jeremy Hunt decides not to immediately refer News Corp's £8bn bid for Sky to the Competition Commission.
Had Hunt know about the dismissal of Edmondson would it have been so easy for him to make this decision?
Oh, and one last thought – is Rupert Murdoch meeting David Cameron this week?
Picking up from Tom Watson's point, @LondonLouis below the line says this:
Cover-ups will be very difficult this time around. There are too many law suits around, and once email traffic gets into the judicial domain, leads could go anywhere. There are too many people who are going to be shown to have lied and, even, perjured themselves. Keeping the lid on that lot will be exceptionally difficult.
What will be interesting is to see if Rebekah Wade can be kept out of the firing line. The way politicans were seriously threatened to stop her being called to give evidence to Parliament was brutal. She, or whoever took that hard line, should be driven out of the industry.
Tom Watson MP is on BBC News now. He's been talking about the "collective amnesia" of executives at News International, who appeared before the Commons media select committee, of which he is a member. "It's time we got the facts, it's time we got this out of the way," he said.
Back to Laura Kuenssberg, who has been on to Downing Street. This is what she has just posted on Twitter:
It seems to me that the political implications of all this are not over just because Andy Coulson has resigned. It's a day in which media stories are dominating the news agenda. The top three stories of the day appear to be the new police investigation into the phone hacking row, the Sky sexism story (we hear that Sky presenter Richard Keys is about to resign, by the way) and the cuts at the BBC World Service.
It can surely be no coincidence that News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch is in town, and News International is now taking decisive action. Murdoch cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to take the reins of the News Corp response to the spiralling phone hacking row.
Photograph: William Fernando Martinez/AP The Labour MP Chris Bryant (left), who believes he may have had his phone hacked, has been speaking to the Press Association. He has more harsh words for the Metropolitan police.
I welcome the news that the Metropolitan Police are now looking at fresh evidence of phone hacking and that they have put the investigation in new hands.
It just goes to show that the Met never did a full or proper investigation in the first place and that they completely failed to follow every avenue of investigation.
It is a scandal that it is only through the civil actions that people are bringing that the Met are being forced to act and we are beginning to see the full scale of what went on.
It is right that Andy Coulson resigned last week. David Cameron should never have appointed him in the first place.
But what is far more important is that the whole story is now exposed and the practice of illegal hacking is put to an end.
A good point below the line from @crisgod, who – like others – asks questions about the role of the Met in previous inquiries into phone hacking.
Methinks there remain a number of heads left to roll over this matter, and not all in the newspaper industry.
And here it is, the statement from News International about Ian Edmondson.
The News of the World has terminated the employment of Ian Edmondson, Assistant Editor (News).
Mr Edmondson was suspended in December 2010 following a serious allegation. Material evidence found during the course of the subsequent investigation has led to Mr Edmondson's dismissal. News International has informed the police, handed over the material it has found and will give its full cooperation going forward.
News International reiterates that it will take swift and decisive action when we have proof of wrongdoing.
Who is deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers, the clean pair of hands who has taken charge of the new investigation? She's the Met's head of organised crime and criminal networks. She has responsibility for Trident, the Met division that deals with gun crime in the black community in London, and serious and organised crime.
This is what she says of the "rewarding aspects" of her role.Leading highly professional and committed staff in delivery of MPS priorities of dismantling criminal networks and combating serious and organised crime, particularly gun crime in order to provide safer communities across London.
Dan Sabbagh is just off the phone to Mark Lewis, a lawyer representing a group of celebrities in phone hacking lawsuits against the News of the World. He told us:
I hope the police do a proper investigation, that they leave no stone unturned in order to find out whose phones had been hacked and what illegal acts had taken place.
In this context, it's worth revisiting Robert Peston's blog on this issue of a few days ago. Peston, rapidly emerging as the Nostradamus of News International, suggested that Rupert Murdoch has employed a "BP strategy" – clear out the Augean Stables and blame the rest of the industry in the process.
Executives at News are engaged - they tell me - in finding out everything they can about who was hacked by the News of the World, News International's Sunday tabloid, and who at News International knew about the hacking.This raises the question about whether Ian Edmondson will be the only NI executive to suffer the axe.
Once they have the details, they will offer settlements to those celebs, politicians and others whose privacy may have been invaded - to cut out the requirement for huge lawyers' fees.
Any culpable News International executives will be sacked.
Another source close to the situation has told a colleague just now: "Rupert rarely stands on ceremony on such occasions."
Dan Sabbagh has tried Ian Edmondson's mobile phone. His wife answered.
Ian Edmondson has been sacked, Dan Sabbagh, our head of media, has confirmed from News International sources.
The political commentator Steve Richards has picked up on the point that Yates of the Yard will not be involved in the new investigation.
Meanwhile Lembit Opik, the former MP, claims his phone was hacked. Is that how they found out he was dating a Cheeky Girl?
Photograph: David Sillitoe Max Clifford (left), the publicist who settled his civil action against the News of the World over his belief that his phone was hacked, has been speaking to my colleague Dan Sabbagh. He has a pretty strong analysis of the implications of what's happening today.
This is what he said of Ian Edmondson – who, we must remember, was appointed by Coulson:I'm told he has been sacked, he was thought it was coming. This is a volcano that is starting to erupt, there will be huge explosions all over Fleet Street if police get to the truth.
One key point to note is that both the Met and the CPS have appointed teams led by people with no previous involvement in the case. Most notably, deputy asssistant commissioner John Yates will not be involved in the new police investigation.
The BBC's chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg has been speaking to Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, who says "astonished" by the new hacking probe and will still publish names of others who believe they were victims.
Earlier this week Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said the Crown Prosecution Service is to adopt a "robust approach" in examining "recent or new substantive allegations" of phone hacking.
Starmer today Tim Goodwin, the acting Met commissioner, and John Yates, the acting deputy commissionerYates pulled off hacking probe: deserved humiliation for the lead officer in disgraceful cash for honours inquiry. Met must get a grip.
steve richards
steverichards14
steve richardssteverichards14
No 10 says Cameron didn't discuss hacking at dinner with James Murdoch + Rebekah Brooks over Xmas + new inquiry was 'complete surprise'
Laura Kuenssberg
BBCLauraK
Meanwhile Lembit Opik, the former MP, claims his phone was hacked. Is that how they found out he was dating a Cheeky Girl? Photograph: David Sillitoe
After the meeting Starmer said:
This is the statement from Scotland Yard:
Laura KuenssbergBBCLauraK
Meanwhile Lembit Opik, the former MP, claims his phone was hacked. Is that how they found out he was dating a Cheeky Girl?
Photograph: David Sillitoe Max Clifford (left), the publicist who settled his civil action against the News of the World over his belief that his phone was hacked, has been speaking to my colleague Dan Sabbagh. He has a pretty strong analysis of the implications of what's happening today.
This is what he said of Ian Edmondson – who, we must remember, was appointed by Coulson:I'm told he has been sacked, he was thought it was coming. This is a volcano that is starting to erupt, there will be huge explosions all over Fleet Street if police get to the truth.
One key point to note is that both the Met and the CPS have appointed teams led by people with no previous involvement in the case. Most notably, deputy asssistant commissioner John Yates will not be involved in the new police investigation.
The BBC's chief political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg has been speaking to Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, who says "astonished" by the new hacking probe and will still publish names of others who believe they were victims.
Earlier this week Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said the Crown Prosecution Service is to adopt a "robust approach" in examining "recent or new substantive allegations" of phone hacking.
Starmer today Tim Goodwin, the acting Met commissioner, and John Yates, the acting deputy commissioner.After the meeting Starmer said:
Any evidence resulting from recent or new substantive allegations made to the Met of mobile voicemail interception arising from the Goodman and Mulcaire case should be subject to the same rigorous assessment as Alison Levitt QC is applying to material already in the possession of the Met.
I have asked Alison Levitt QC (who has had no previous involvement in the case) to take a robust approach with a view to advising whether the Met should carry out any further investigation, or deciding whether any prosecutions can be brought. This builds upon the previous request by the MPS to the CPS to assess all the material relevant to phone hacking.
Scotland Yard has launched a fresh investigation into the phone hacking scandal today after receiving "significant new information". Police said the new material is linked to allegations about the activities of staff at the News of the World in 2005 and 2006.
Meanwhile, it is understood that the News of the World has sacked Ian Edmondson, the assistant editor (news). Edmondson was the no 3 at the paper and was appointed by former editor Andy Coulson, who resigned as Downing Street's director of communications last week. This is the statement from Scotland Yard:
The Met has today received significant new information relating to allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World in 2005/06. As a result, the Met is launching a new investigation to consider this material.
This work will be carried out by the specialist crime directorate which has been investigating a related phone hacking allegation since September 2010.
Discussions have taken place with the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the recently announced role of Alison Levitt QC.
It has been agreed that her task will continue and she will evaluate any new evidence and advise as to the progress of the investigation.
The original phone hacking investigation was undertaken by the counter terrorism command in specialist operations.
However, in view of their current workload and the continuing 'severe' threat level, it has been agreed that it is no longer appropriate to divert them or Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates from their main duties and responsibilities.
Accordingly, this new investigation will be led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers from the specialist crime directorate. We will not be making any further comments at this stage.
Hacking: Prosecution source-"very significant information which takes you up chain at News International...this cld lead to prosecutions."
Chris Mason
ChrisMasonBBC
Chris MasonChrisMasonBBC
Scotland Yard sources say new NOTW info relates only to Ian Edmondson but is 'very significant'; they're expecting long investigation
Sean O'Neill
TimesCrime
Sean O'NeillTimesCrime
