Glenn Mulcaire, the private
investigator jailed in 2007 for intercepting celebrities’ voice
mails while working for News Corp.’s News of the World tabloid,
must reveal who told him to hack phones, a U.K. judge ruled.
Mulcaire on July 29 was told he can’t appeal a High Court
order that he name who at the paper told him to intercept voice-
mail messages for model Elle Macpherson and other public
figures, according to the lawyer for Steve Coogan, a comedian
who believes his phone was hacked. The names must be revealed by
Aug. 26, he said.
Mulcaire “will now have to identify exactly who at the
News of the World asked him to access the mobile phones of the
named individuals and who he provided the information to,” John
Kelly, with the law firm Schillings in London, said today in an
interview. The revelation could show hacking took place on an
“industrial scale,” he said.
Mulcaire and News Corp.’s U.K. newspaper unit are
defendants in dozens of civil lawsuits filed by individuals who
claim their voice mails were accessed. London’s Metropolitan
Police are examining Mulcaire’s notebooks and contacting
possible victims, and have arrested 13 people, including the
newspaper’s former editors, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson.
A lower court judge rejected in February Mulcaire’s
argument that the identities of those who requested the hacking
weren’t relevant to the celebrities’ lawsuits since he had
already admitted to the breaches. The names will help claimants
understand the scope of the alleged conspiracy between Mulcaire
and the paper, the judge ruled.
Breach of Contract
Mulcaire’s lawyer, Sarah Webb, declined to comment when
reached today by phone.
Mulcaire yesterday sued News Corp. (NWSA)’s U.K. newspaper unit.
He claims a breach of contract because the company stopped
paying his legal bills, according to a person familiar with the
case who wasn’t authorized to speak about it publicly.
The newspaper’s former royal reporter, Clive Goodman, who
was also jailed in 2007, was thought to be the only journalist
involved at the time. News Corp. was forced to shutter the 168-
year-old tabloid last month after revelations that journalists
had hacked the phone of a murdered schoolgirl.
News International, based in London, has apologized to
hacking victims and agreed to pay about 100,000 pounds
($165,470) to settle actress Sienna Miller’s claims and another
20,000 pounds to sports commentator Andy Gray. The company faces
a “test” trial in January, when a court will decide how much
the company should pay in damages to five other victims,
including actor Jude Law.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Larson in London at
elarson4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Christopher Scinta at
cscinta@bloomberg.net
Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-19/mulcaire-news-corp-phone-hacker-ordered-by-london-judge-to-name-names.html
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