Divisional managing partner at law firm Lewis Silkin specialising in intellectual-property, advertising and marketing, privacy and data-protection, regulatory and reputation-management work. Crown represented the Bowles family at the Inquiry in relation to unwanted and invasive media attention following the death of their 11-year-old son in a coach accident that killed him and 27 others.
The parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose voicemails were intercepted by the News of the World, leading to the misconception that Milly had been receiving her messages and was therefore alive. The unearthing of this practice sparked the investigations and subsequent court action against those involved, which in turn led to the establishment of the Leveson Inquiry. Designated Core Participant Victims in the Inquiry.
The parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose voicemails were intercepted by the News of the World, leading to the misconception that Milly had been receiving her messages and was therefore alive. The unearthing of this practice sparked the investigations and subsequent court action against those involved, which in turn led to the establishment of the Leveson Inquiry. Designated Core Participant Victims in the Inquiry.
A Core Participant in the Inquiry and a claimant in the voicemail-interception cases. Field was dismissed from her position as Head of Intellectual Property and Creative Services from accountancy and tax advisory firm Chiltern after being wrongly accused of leaking information about her client, Elle Macpherson, to the press. Stressed throughout her evidence that she thought highly of most of the press and did not wish press freedom to be curtailed or restricted.
Born 1972. Former Premiership footballer for Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United and later Manager for lower division clubs. Flitcroft gave evidence at the Inquiry concerning press intrusion he received when injunctions were lifted allowing coverage of his extra-marital affairs.
UK Information Commissioner from 2009 to 2016. Told the Inquiry that proposals for tougher data-protection laws could have a negative effect on investigative journalism and that he would oppose the Information Commissioner’s Office becoming more of a regulating body.
Born 1971. British lawyer and writer. Green is a former legal correspondent for the New Statesman, a columnist on law and policy for the Financial Times and also blogs as Jack of Kent. Has written on legal matters for The Guardian, The Lawyer, New Scientist and other publications. Gave his views to the Inquiry on regulation and self-regulation, and asked the Inquiry not to interpret the phrase “freedom of the press” as referring just to the rights and privileges of the press.
Former Metropolitan Police officer who joined the Service in 1977, later becoming a Detective Constable. Hames presented BBC's Crimewatch between 1990 and 2006. She took early retirement from the MPS in January 2008. She gave evidence of press intrusion, including being targeted by Glenn Mulcaire of the News of the World and followed by private investigators also working for that paper.
Anonymous witness with experience of intrusive press attention, in particular phone hacking.
Professor of the Psychiatry of Learning Disability at St George's, University of London, and crossbench life peer in the House of Lords in 2010. President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 2005 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2013 President of the British Medical Association. Hollins gave evidence of “unacceptable press behaviour” and the intrusion her family experienced in 2005 after her daughter was stabbed and left paralysed. She gave evidence later in 2012 complaining that fabricated stories about her son had appeared in the Daily Mail.
Former member of British Military Intelligence and author of a book highlighting aspects of his service in Northern Ireland under the pseudonym Martin Ingram. He told the Inquiry that he and his family had been hacked by the now defunct News of the World: "The documentation that I've seen and others have seen, including Parliamentarians, clearly shows the corruptness which was allowed to continue and the culture was encouraged ... It would not have taken place over such a sustained period if it hadn't had the cover and the protection of very senior police officers," he told the Inquiry.
A retired schoolteacher, Jefferies was landlord to Joanna Yeates, who was murdered in Bristol in December 2010. Jefferies was the subject of multiple libels in national newspapers, for which he sued and received damages.
Lawyer specialising in defamation and privacy law, who represented a large number of victims of intercepted voicemails. Gave details to the Inquiry of the unravelling of information about extensive phone-hacking of celebrities and others known to the police. Represented the Dowler family in their financial claim and undertook the first hacking claims against both the News of the World and Mirror Group.
A consultant cardiologist from Leicestershire whose daughter Madeleine, aged three, disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in May 2007. Dr McCann, his wife Kate and their holiday companions were the subject of multiple libels in national newspapers, for some of which they sued and received damages.
A Leicestershire doctor whose daughter Madeleine, aged three, disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal in May 2007. Dr McCann, her husband Gerry and their holiday companions were the subject of multiple libels in national newspapers, for some of which they sued and received damages.
A Core Participant in the Inquiry and the former president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (1993-2009). In 2008, he won a privacy case against the News of the World after it accused him of participating in Nazi-themed orgies. He gave the Leveson Inquiry a full account of his claim against the News of the World and of that paper's continued use of snatched images and its attempt to gather false witness statements. Despite sensationalist reporting, Mosley persisted in his claim, ultimately retaining the confidence of the FIA and being awarded £60,000 for invasion of privacy.
Member of the public who sought to draw attention to the security loopholes of mobile phone message services, in particular concerning the remote accessing of voicemails. Some 10 years before message-hacking became news, he alerted his phone company to the simplicity of hacking phone messages. When the company was reluctant to act, he spoke to journalists. In evidence to the Inquiry, he said that after contacting both the Daily Mirror and The Sun, he feared the press was deliberately keeping the issue secret in order to continue to access voicemails themselves. He contacted a variety of agencies, including the police and his MP, and ultimately started a website to promote the information.
Designated a Core Participant at the Inquiry, Rowland was a claimant in the litigation against News International regarding phone hacking. He told the Inquiry he had been shown evidence that someone had attempted to hack his voicemails 100 times in 2005, when he had been working for the Mail on Sunday and the Times. At the time of the Inquiry, he had been a journalist or freelance writer for 30 years, having written for the Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard and The Times. Had also worked as a TV presenter and author.
A solicitor with wide experience in defamation, privacy and media law, Shear gave evidence as a "core participant", telling the Inquiry that in dealing with the press, particularly the tabloid press, he had seen numerous examples of misconduct in pursuit of stories concerning the private lives of well-known individuals. He gave his opinion that understaffed newsrooms were under pressure to find and feature sensational stories and that tabloid journalists had become more aggressive in their methods. He also gave evidence that he had himself been the subject of surveillance.
Father of Diane and Alan Watson, who each died in separate, tragic circumstances. A Core Participant Victim, Watson argued that the press coverage of 16-year-old Diane's murder in the playground at school directly contributed to the later suicide of his son Alan. James Watson gave a brief statement to the Inquiry.
