Briefing: Sex and sleaze in phone hacking trial

A trial is well underway into allegations of phone-hacking by senior media figures in the UK.

Journalists, editors and executives of Britain’s most powerful newspaper group, News International, are accused of illegally intercepting the phone messages of celebrities, crime victims and public figures in an attempt to report ‘exclusive’ stories.

The allegations permeate politics, the police, Ministry of Defence, and Royal Family, raising questions of privacy.

Not only were celebrities, sports stars, Royals and politicians targeted, but also ordinary people and even the families of murder victims.

What happened?

The phone-hacking offences are said to have taken place at the News of the World (NoW) between October 2000 and August 2006. The NoW, Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper, closed on July 10, 2011.

Who was affected?

In July 2011, The Guardian newspaper reported that the NoW had hacked into the cellphone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002. Some voicemail messages were erased, giving her parents the false hope she was still alive.

Celebrities including Jude Law, Sienna Miller and Hugh Grant were also targeted. In 2005, a voicemail by Prince Harry asking an aide for help on an essay whilst at Sandhurst military academy was intercepted.

In 2007, the NoW’s royal correspondent Clive Goodman was jailed for phone hacking; one of his stories was about treatment received by Prince William for a knee injury.

Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working with NoW journalists, was also jailed.  The Guardian has reported Mulcaire received up to 2,266 requests for information from News International journalists over the years. It is thought there could be up to 5,795 victims of phone-hacking.

Who’s on trial?

A handful of high ranking figures from Rupert Murdoch’s News International group, including its former CEO and News of the World and The Sun editor Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, the former editor of NoW who resigned after Goodman and Mulcaire were jailed and is a former communications director for Prime Minister David Cameron.

 The jury has heard that Brooks and Coulson had an affair for more than six years, from 1998 to 2004, when they were both married to others. 

It is alleged Brooks authorized payments to a Ministry of Defence official to obtain information on dead soldiers whilst at The Sun. Coulson is accused of authorizing a payment to a police officer for Royal household telephone directories. Both are charged with conspiracy to hack phones and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
What’s the fallout?

After reports Milly Dowler’s phone had been hacked, UK prime minister David Cameron set up a public inquiry into press ethics.  Chaired by Lord Justice Leveson it heard evidence from witnesses and victims of phone hacking, between November 2011 and June 2012.

Lord Leveson’s report in November 2012 proposed a new self-regulating body for the press, overseen by a watchdog, and independent of press or political control.

But Cameron rejected the idea of legislation and so a compromise, a Royal Charter, is now going before the Privy Council.

It proposes a regulator and an independent watchdog to replace the current Press Complaints Commission.

The regulator would be tasked with drawing up a standards code and could impose fines of up to $1m.

Editors, however, have set up their own regulator, the Independent Press Standards Organization. 

What happens next?

The trial is expected to last several months. 

Research by Amanda Dale. Sources: BBC News, The Guardian (UK).