The tactics of the now-defunct newspaper News of the World came to light as the former deputy features editor testified Tuesday that they not only hacked into phones, but also stole photographs, paid sources, and even went through the trash bins of subjects. Paul McMullan testified that his former boss, Piers Morgan, once said “well done” after reporters stole a photograph off the mantle of the woman who reportedly took former prime minister’s John Major’s virginity. Morgan also reportedly said, “I don’t care what it costs; I just want to get the defining stories of the week.” McMullan said the paper had become “too dependent” on private investigators, who had resorted to illegal tactics to get information for them, and said he thinks “phone hacking is a perfectly acceptable tool if we were doing it to get to the truth.”
