Worked as a legal advisor to News International in his role as a partner at Harbottle & Lewis. Was questioned on his involvement in, or knowledge of, the surveillance of two prominent lawyers, Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris. Later fined £20,000 after a tribunal found that he failed to read an email containing evidence of widespread phone hacking at the News of the World. He said he was asleep when it was sent.
General Counsel and Company Secretary at Everything Everywhere (EE) at time of the Inquiry and responsible for legal, regulatory and compliance matters within the company. Both T-Mobile and Orange are owned by EE. Gave evidence on historic requests and responses concerning hacking and accessing messages of phones.
Solicitor and Director of Legal Affairs at News International until 2011. He had given advice on the dismissal and employment-tribunal case of Clive Goodman, former royal editor of the News of the World, who had been convicted of criminally hacking phones.
Legal Manager at News International who gave evidence that he thought NI's claim that the practice of phone-hacking was limited to one rogue reporter was "erroneous from the outset". He had given NI advice on phone-hacking as early as 2004. Told the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee about hacking allegations (in July 2009 and September 2011), stating that he had failed to find further evidence of hacking at the News of the World, following the jailing of the paper's royal editor Clive Goodman in 2007. The NoW closed in 2011 and Crone resigned from NI soon after. He was arrested in August 2012 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and bailed. In 2014, the Crown Prosecution Service announced he would not face charges because of "insufficient evidence". In 2016, the Parliamentary privileges and standards committee found him in contempt of the House of Commons over the evidence he had submitted to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, resulting in a "formal admonishment".
Former Chief Executive of the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Deputy Chair of the homelessness charity Crisis until 2016.
Head of Editorial Legal Services at Associated Newspapers Limited ("ANL"), having joined ANL in 2009 after acting for them while a partner at solicitors Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). All ANL photographers had to adhere to a code of practice, she said.
Head of Legal at Express Newspapers at the time of giving evidence. Responsible for the provision of editorial legal services across the company, for both print and digital. Her evidence revealed that the Express continued to use the services of, and make payments to, the private investigator Steve Whittamore five years after he had pleaded guilty to illegally accessing data.
Greek-Australian moral and legal philosopher. Quain Professor of Jurisprudence in the Faculty of Laws, University College London at time of giving evidence. Offered his thoughts on the difference between rights and interests. Gave his view that some information can be in the public interest without there being a corresponding right to have access to that information (just as it could be in your interest to have your friend's kidney, but it is not your right to have it).
Crime Correspondent at the South Wales Echo at the time of the Inquiry, Alford answered questions on the relationship between police and press in South Wales.
Barrister and lecturer, married to former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and patron of The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. In 2013, Blair was awarded damages for her claims against News of the World in relation to the unlawful interception of her voicemails. Had raised a number of complaints over the years with publications such as the Daily Mail about inaccurate and invasive reporting, evidence of which was presented to the Inquiry.
Managing Director of European Law Monitor, submitted a paper to the Inquiry on the implications of the failure of the UK Government to transpose an EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications into UK law.
Lawyer and General Counsel for Financial Times Limited at the time of the Inquiry. Described the nature of advice that he had given journalists including on the legality of recording phone conversations and the status of leaked documents. He had never been asked to give advice on phone-hacking, he said. Bratton gave his opinion that the authority of the Press Complaints Commission had been seriously harmed by the revelations of illegal press activity.
Legal consultant at Yahoo! at the time of the Inquiry, where his work involved a wide range of issues, such as audience, content, product compliance and litigation. Giving evidence on behalf of the web services provider, he described how its search engine worked and the processes of removing material with or without a court order.
At the time of the Inquiry, Joint Managing Director of Northern & Shell, publishers of Express Newspapers until 2018 when purchased by Trinity Mirror. Gave evidence relating to Express Newspapers' staff procedures and ethical standards and the financial procedures which Ellice believed ensured proper financial governance.
Solicitor and Head Counsel at Sky at time of Inquiry, having joined in 2010 as a legal advisor. Gave information on training materials, guidance and practice for journalists working at Sky.
In 2012, as Treasury Solicitor, the Government's principal legal official, he gave written evidence to the Inquiry. At the time of News Corporation's BskyB bid, Sir Paul's advice had been sought on comments made about the bid by Vince Cable, the then Secretary of State for Business. Sir Paul told the Leveson Inquiry that he had informed the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, that in his view Cable's comments could put his impartiality in question and that Cable's duties in the matter should therefore be transferred to another Secretary of State. Sir Paul died in February 2018.
Founded 1993. Charity established to advise individuals with whistleblowing dilemmas at work. Supports organisations with whistleblowing procedures, informs public policy and seeks legislative change. Submitted a document on the relevance of whistleblowing to the culture and ethics of the press.
Editorial Legal Director of The Times at the time of the Inquiry, having joined the paper as Senior Legal Adviser in July 2009. Prior to this, Sarma worked as a senior associate in the law firm Finers Stephens Innocent, advising and conducting media litigation on behalf of media clients including newspapers and publishers.
At the time of giving evidence, Toms was acting as interim Director of Legal Affairs at NI Group Limited, having been seconded from legal firm Allen & Overy. He was asked whether he had had any input into the internal inquiry at News International into phone-hacking and blagging. Told the Inquiry that in his few months in office he had been involved in organising and delivering training to journalists on the Bribery Act 2010, including giving generic advice that journalists should not make payments to public servants. He said he could not answer questions relating to the News of the World since it was the subject of a continuing police investigation.
Solicitor and Partner at Linklaters, the legal representatives of News International at the Inquiry and inhouse lawyer. Walls had been appointed a partner in 1987 as an expert in contentious commercial practice, principally fraud investigation and asset recovery, insolvency and banking. The Inquiry requested Linklaters’ assistance in identifying those involved in the sourcing, preparation, writing and editing of a News of the World story in 2008 concerning Kate McCann’s diary. The NoW had ceased publishing in July 2011 and Linklaters informed the court of the difficulties this presented.
