Journalist and former newspaper editor. CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011, having previously been the youngest editor of a British national newspaper (at the News of the World from 2000 to 2003) and the first female editor of The Sun (from 2003 to 2009). Brooks was a prominent figure in the News International phone-hacking scandal, having been editor of the News of the World when illegal phone-hacking was carried out. Following a criminal trial in 2014, she was cleared of all charges by a jury at the Old Bailey, which accepted her defence that she had no knowledge of the illegal acts carried out at the newspaper she edited.
Labour MP for Rhondda. Member of the Commons Media Select Committee, where he raised concerns about News International journalists making payments to police officers. Bryant told the Inquiry that, shortly after this, his phone was hacked by the News of the World and Bryant was reported by several papers to have used a gay dating site. In 2012, he received £30,000 damages from NI.
Born 1957. Journalist and author and former press secretary to Tony Blair as Leader of the Opposition (1994-97) and as Prime minister (1997-2000). From 2000-2003, he was director of communications for the Labour Party (2000-03). Before 1994, he had been political editor of Today newspaper and the Daily Mirror. Campbell gave detailed testimony on the political media and what he saw as the decline of genuine investigative journalism and the increasing tendency of owners, editors and senior journalists to wish to be political players. Embellishment and pure invention were tolerated and encouraged by some editors and owners, he said.
Born 1986. A child star as a classical singer, in her teens Church experienced intense press scrutiny. She was a victim of phone hacking by the News of the World, as were numerous relatives and associates, and was party to civil actions against the paper. Her evidence to the Inquiry detailed examples of harassment and intrusion by journalists and photographers.
Former journalist and founder of PR company Max Clifford Associates, which dealt with protecting the public image of famous stars and events. He had been the victim of phone-hacking by the News of the World along with several of his clients. In 2014, Clifford was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault on four girls and women aged between 15 and 19. He died on 10 December 2017.
Actor, comedian, victim of phone hacking by the News of the World and a leading figure in legal actions against the newspaper. He told the Leveson Inquiry that "lurid" details of his private life appeared in the News of the World after he was set up by that paper's former editor. Coogan gave extensive evidence of intrusive stalking and photographing by the Daily Mirror and Sunday Times. He said he had witnessed journalists rummaging through his rubbish bins. He had also been the victim of several kiss-and-tell stories and detailed how the women in question had been fooled and sometimes bribed into giving stories. At the heart of the problem, he thought, was the lack of accountability on the part of the editors and owners.
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.
The ex-wife of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was designated a Core Participant Victim by the Inquiry. During and after her marriage, Ms Gascoigne and her children were the subjects of intense media scrutiny, she said. She had pursued libel cases against several national newspapers and been awarded damages. She gave evidence of "massive intrusion" into her family's private life and examples of six totally untrue stories printed about her in the Mirror, the Daily Star, the News of the World and the People. She received apologies, statements or costs and damages from all of them, she said, telling the Inquiry that after she had taken action the press treated her with more respect.
Conservative MP for Surrey Heath and Education Secretary at the time of the Inquiry. A former journalist at the Aberdeen Press and Journal, the Times, the BBC and the Spectator. Told the Inquiry that sometimes "individuals reach for regulation in order to deal with failures of character or morality, and sometimes that regulation is right and appropriate but some of us believe that before the case for regulation is made, the case for liberty needs to be asserted as well".
English actor and film producer. Dealt in detail with his concerns about his treatment by the press, including the reporting in relation to stories concerning his daughter and his concerns about the way in which particular journalists had accessed that information. Grant was also appointed spokesperson for the campaign group Hacked Off.
Hughes was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. In 2012, he gave lengthy evidence to the Inquiry about the extent of hacking of his private phone from 2002 to 2006, when details of his private relationships had been made public and The Sun had reported that Hughes had made telephone calls to a gay chat service. He learnt of the full extent of the hacking only after Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman were convicted of illegally intercepting voicemails on behalf of the News of the World in 2007. Hughes discovered that Mulcaire had collected extensive information about his contacts, private hotline and phone calls. Hughes told the Inquiry that he had seen the emergence of an increasingly unhealthy relationship between politicians and the Murdoch newspapers.
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.
Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2015, holding major ministerial positions including (from 2001 to 2007) as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Designated a Core Participant Victim at the Inquiry, she gave extensive evidence, based on her experience both as Secretary of State responsible for media and as a victim of phone-hacking. In her evidence, she accused the press of "total invasion" of her privacy. Jowell accepted £200,000 in damages from the News of the World (£100,000 of which went to a charity), after the police informed her that her phone had been comprehensively hacked. Raised to the peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours, Baroness Jowell died from cancer in May 2018.
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.
The actress, model and fashion designer was designated a Core Participant Victim by the Inquiry. During the period 2005 to 2006, Miller found herself the victim of intrusive media scrutiny, particularly from the News of the World. She told the Inquiry that information published about her private life had been so precise and accurate that she had accused friends and family of talking to the press about her. Soon after, she learnt from the police that her telephone had been hacked.
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.
Australian-born American Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation with an estimated net worth of $15.2 billion at the time of giving evidence. Gave a brief history of his organisation from the founding of the Adelaide News to date. Among other matters, was asked about the admission in the diaries of Woodrow Wyatt, a confidant of both Murdoch and Margaret Thatcher, that he "bent... all the rules" to enable acquisition of The Times and Sunday Times without the bid being referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Murdoch outlined his different understanding of the process. In lengthy evidence over several days, Murdoch admitted that the phone-hacking affair had left a serious blot on his reputation.
British politician and retired police officer, currently sitting in the House of Lords as a life peer. Until his retirement in May 2007, Paddick was Deputy Assistant Commissioner in London's Metropolitan Police Service. He gave evidence to the Inquiry of a Metropolitan Police cover-up of systemic phone hacking by sections of the tabloid press. Paddick was a Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral elections of 2008 and 2012.
John Prescott is a former Deputy Prime Minister (1997-2007) who represented Hull East as Labour MP from 1970 to 2010. Submitted "A New Regulatory Framework", a paper on the press drawn up by a Prescott-led working group, to the Inquiry.
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 Core Participant Victim, the Harry Potter author challenged news publishers over intrusion into her private life on numerous occasions. Gave evidence of snatched photos of her family and her residence.
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.
British journalist, novelist and human-rights activist. Former chair of the Writers in Prison committee in the English section of International PEN and former Executive Director of Hacked Off. A Core Participant Victim, Smith gave evidence to the Inquiry of being told by her MP partner Denis MacShane that their phones had been hacked. The police confirmed that details of their conversations and meetings had been acquired by Glenn Mulcaire on behalf of the News of the World. She described the hacking as a sickening invasion of her privacy.
Thomson represented Hugh Grant and his partner Tinglan Hong in the phone-hacking and harassment cases against the News of the World. Thomson represented numerous other victims of the phone-hacking scandal who were subsequently awarded damages for media intrusion and invasion of privacy. Told the Inquiry that it was his strong view that the PCC had failed to enforce improved press standards and, significantly, had no power of "prior restraint".
British Labour Party MP for Watford 1997-2010 and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice from 2009 to 2010. Ward told Inquiry that within weeks of becoming an MP she was subject to intense media intrusion and threats, including from the News of the World, purporting to have compromising photographs of her.
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.
Mother of Diane and Alan Watson who both died in separate, tragic circumstances. Watson has argued that the press coverage of Diane's murder in the playground at school aged 16 directly led to the later suicide of their son Alan. She told the Inquiry that current defamation legislation left families of murder victims unable to challenge malicious falsehoods about the bereaved.
