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Operation Weeting

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Operation Weeting 

Operation Weeting, Operation Weeting is 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 affair. The operation is being conducted alongside Operation Elveden, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World. All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate.
In August 2006, the News of the World’s royal editor, Clive Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family by accessing voicemail messages, an offence under section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. On 26 January 2007, both Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to four and six months imprisonment respectively. On the same day, it was announced that Andy Coulson had resigned as editor of the News of the World. In 2007, that appeared to be the end of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal.

In July 2009, The Guardian newspaper published a series of allegations that a culture of phone hacking went far beyond the single case of Goodman and Mulcaire’s hacking of the royal household. It was alleged that a much wider range of people across different areas of public life, including the former deputy prime minister John Prescott, the Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, politicians Tessa Jowell and Boris Johnson, publicist Max Clifford and even Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News of the World’s sister paper The Sun. had been the victim of hacking ordered by the News of the World. The News of the World and its parent News Corporation strongly denied the allegations, and called on The Guardian to share any evidence it had with the police. In the wake of the allegations, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Paul Stephenson asked the force’s Assistant Commissioner John Yates to review the original 2006 investigation in the light of any new evidence, with regards to potentially reopening the investigation. In a single 8-hour meeting, Yates decided not to take any further action.

In the wake of the police deciding not to instigate legal proceedings, several public figures who had allegedly been hacked began litigation proceedings against the News of the World’s owner News International, and against the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Those who began legal action included the football agent Sky Andrew, actress Sienna Miller, actor Steve Coogan, television presenter Chris Tarrant and football pundit Andy Gray. In the course of one of these litigation proceedings, that brought by Sienna Miller, papers lodged in the High Court suggested that Ian Edmondson, a senior editor at the News of the World, was involved in work undertaken by Mulcaire. In the wake of this new evidence, News International group general manager Will Lewis was tasked with reviewing any documents relating to the 2006 Goodman case within the company’s records and files. This review led Lewis to also re-examine all documents held by the legal firm Harbottle & Lewis, who had defended News International against an unfair dismissal case brought by Clive Goodman in 2007, in which he discovered questionable material. Lewis passed this material to a second legal firm, Hickman Rose, who in turn asked the former Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald to examine the evidence and report his findings to the News International board. Macdonald’s report found evidence of indirect hacking, breaches of national security and serious crime, which led Macdonald to recommend that the company immediately refer the matter to the police; News International did.

Edmondson Editor At News Of The World 7 Years

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Edmondson Editor At News Of The World 7 Years 

Edmondson Editor At News Of The World 7 Years, The News of the World was battered by a string of new allegations today as the row over hacking of murder victims’ phones deepened. It emerged that even the families of victims of the 7/7 bombings have been warned that they may have been the targets of phone hacking by News of the World journalists as they mourned the death of love ones.

The shocking revelation came after it was revealed that families of the two girls murdered by Ian Huntley, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, were also targeted by phone hackers while their daughters were missing and that the News of the World had also hacked into the mobile phone messages of murdered Milly Dowler.

Politicians were today preparing to take part in an emergency Commons debate with many calling for public inquiry into the scandal.

There will also be demands that the government block New International boss Rupert Murdoch from buying outright control of Sky TV, as deal due to be approved on Friday.

The 7/7 revelations – a day before the sixth anniversary of the atrocity – will pile further pressure on chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks to resign over the hacking scandal.

This morning senior industry figures were in disbelief that she had not gone already.

She has claimed to have no knowledge of the actions of the journalists and investigators involved, despite being editor of News of the World at the time.

However, according to The Independent, she was personally responsible for hiring private detective Steve Whittamore to trace the owner of a mobile phone number, in a separate incident. He later supplied the NoTW with the Dowler family’s ex-directory number.

The fresh allegations regarding the families of victims of the 7/7 attacks has added a further level of disgust to the story for its potential targets.

Graham Foulkes, whose 22-year-old son David was killed in the attacks, was told by police his details were found in a file marked ‘July 7’ during the police investigation and that he may have been hacked.

He told BBC Radio Four this morning: ‘My wife and I were kind of all over the place and we were chatting to friends on the phone, in a very personal and in a deeply emotional context and the thought that someone might have been listening to that just looking for a cheap headline is just horrendous.’

Ian Edmondson Sacked For Role Material Evidence Found Supporting Role In Phone Hacking

March 7, 2012 by · Comments Off on Ian Edmondson Sacked For Role Material Evidence Found Supporting Role In Phone Hacking 

Ian Edmondson Sacked For Role Material Evidence Found Supporting Role In Phone Hacking, The News International phone-hacking scandal is an ongoing controversy involving the News of the World and other British tabloid newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of publishing stories.

Investigations conducted from 2005-2007 concluded that the paper’s phone hacking activities were limited to celebrities, politicians and members of the British Royal Family. However, in July 2011, it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7/7 London bombings were also accessed, resulting in a public outcry against News Corporation and owner Rupert Murdoch. Advertiser boycotts contributed to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July, ending 168 years of publication.

British prime minister David Cameron announced on 6 July 2011 that a public inquiry would look into the affair after police investigations had ended. On 13 July 2011, Cameron named Lord Justice Leveson as chairman of the inquiry, with a remit to look into phone hacking and police bribery by the News of the World, while a separate inquiry would consider the culture and ethics of the wider British media.

He also said the Press Complaints Commission would be replaced “entirely”. The inquiries led to several high-profile resignations, including Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton; News International legal manager Tom Crone; and chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, Sir Paul Stephenson, also resigned his post. Former News of the World managing editor Andy Coulson, former executive editor Neil Wallis, and Brooks were all arrested. Murdoch and his son, James, were summoned to give evidence before a parliamentary media committee.

The negative attention garnered by the scandal eventually reached the United States, where News Corporation is headquartered and operates multiple media outlets. The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a probe on 14 July 2011 to determine whether News Corporation accessed voicemails of victims of the 9/11 attacks. On 15 July, U.S.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced an additional investigation by the Department of Justice, looking into whether the company had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

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