The phone hacking story will not go away. This week has seen the biggest news story in the case for some time. The Guardian reported that the voicemails of the murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, were hacked into by News of the World (NoW) journalists shortly after her disappearance in March 2002. It was suggested that her voicemails were deleted by the NoW “in order to free up space for more messages”. This meant that her friends and relatives wrongly concluded that she might still be alive. Surrey Police investigating her disappearance feared evidence may have been destroyed. Unsurprisingly, the Dowler family were reported to have reacted with “shock and disgust“.
This development has a number of important features. First, the alleged hacking took place in 2002 – more than a year before most of the cases reported to date. Second, there is a suggestion of a direct connection between private investigator Steve Whittamore (the ‘blagger’ convicted after ‘Operation Motorman‘) – who is said to have obtained the initial information – and Glenn Mulcaire (the ‘phone hacking expert’). Third, the alleged hacking took place when Rebekah Brooks was NoW editor. Previously the hacking allegations related to the editorship of her successor Andy Coulson. As The Independent put it: “Brooks has some explaining to do“.
