One Rogue Email And The Indestructible Archive

Another new article by my regular contributor bringing some more order to the chaos of Hackgate.

Often a key Hackgate event has come to light months (even years) later.  It can be confusing - trying to see a wider view and adjusting your fuzzy chronology when fresh information appears. But each new fragment contributes to a better grasp of a bigger picture.  Tracing one aspect through the now-massive volume of material can be useful - in this instance, focusing on News International's quirky dealings with the everyday email.

26 January 2007
Goodman and Mulcaire convicted. Goodman's unfair dismissal claim against News of the World mean that batches of relevant emails are provided to News Int lawyers, Harbottle and Lewis, to inspect for evidence of illegality.  Given their narrowly-drawn remit, unsurprisingly they found none.

24 July 2008
Max Mosley won his legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), UK parent company of News International (News Int). One part of the defence case (ironically) was that Max Mosley had deleted emails which the News of the World alleged would have incriminated Mosley and exonerated the newspaper.  NGN were clearly suspicious that deleting emails looked guilty. 

Justice Eady demurred, saying in his Judgement (p17-18  paras 73-78) that Mosley's deletion of the emails

...seem to have been prompted, albeit with no great urgency, by the warnings he had received that he might be under surveillance by unidentified persons with the motive of trying to undermine his character or reputation in the motoring world. These came from Bernie Ecclestone in January and from Lord (John) Stevens at the end of February.

At the time (ironically), post-prison, "Glenn Mulcaire was contracted to give security advice to a private security company, Quest, whose chairman was Sir John Stevens, the former Met Police Commissioner."  (p66, Dial M for Murdoch)

8 July 2009
The Guardian reported that News International settled Gordon Taylor's civil claim: 'Murdoch papers paid £1m to gag phone-hacking victims'

9 July 2009
Assistant Commissioner John Yates (Counter Terrorism Command, Specialist Operations) undertook a day-long consideration of issues raised by the Guardian article the day before.  His conclusion was that a new investigation was not warranted.


14 July 2009At the ensuing Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee hearing, the Guardian's Nick Davies publicly provided Members with the infamous 'for Neville' 2005 email - one rogue email that challenged NGN's 'one rogue reporter' defence.


Nov 2009
News Int established an 'email deletion policy' to "eliminate in a consistent manner" emails "that could be unhelpful in the context of future litigation".



29 July 2010
Following repeated requests, a News Int Senior Executive again pressed for priority action on email deletion - "How come we still haven't done the email deletion policy discussed and approved six months ago?"


4 August 2010
The same Senior Executive asked again about email deletion, adding "everyone needs to know that everything before January 2010 will not be kept."

1 September 2010
The New York Times published a comprehensive story of the phone hacking crisis. Their article included fresh information from former News Int whistleblowers, challenging the fiction of one rogue reporter acting illegally without executives' knowledge - 'Tabloid Hack Attack on Royals, and Beyond'






2 September 2010
Metropolitan Police commence Operation Varec to investigate the New York Times article of the previous day.  Varec was undertaken by Counter-Terrorism Command in Specialist Operations.

6 September 2010
News Int were served with a letter from Sienna Miller's legal team requiring that all relevant documents and emails be preserved. In addition, her legal team demanded the preservation of all computers used by named News of the World journalists. (p 17 Admitted General Particulars of Claim)

9 Sept 2010
A News Int IT employee wrote about deleting emails the next day, "There is a senior NI management requirement to delete this data as quickly as possible..."

11 September 2010
It is alleged that "on 11 September 2010, April Casburn, being a public officer, and acting as such, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully misconducted herself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in that office. This charge relates to an allegation that DCI Casburn contacted the News of the World newspaper and offered to provide information." (Crown Prosecution Service charge press statement)

It was reported by the Telegraph that this "related to information allegedly offered to the News of the World about Operation Varec", though it is not yet known if NotW accepted any offer of any inside-track Varec info. Detective Chief Inspector Casburn is a serving senior Metropolitan Police officer in Counter Terrorism Command in Specialist Operations.

Same day - 11 September 2010
All emails from News Int's email archive were deleted, up to September 30th 2004 (p17, Admitted General Particulars of Claim, as above)

October 2010
There now appeared a sense of urgency, brute force is applied - all computers used by News of the World journalists were 'taken out and smashed up' - physically destroyed and the hard drives put through a grinder. (Daily Mail)

10 November 2010
It was revealed by the Guardian that News of the World "accepted liability over allegations from Sienna Miller which included that her private emails had been opened".

17 November 2010
Bob Bird, Editor of News of the World Scotland, gives evidence at the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial -

Mr Bird told the court that the newspaper had lost 'six months' worth of emails due to a decision to archive them in Mumbai India

9 - 10 December 2010
Andy Coulson, Director of Communications at 10 Downing Street, gave his evidence at the Sheridan perjury trial.

21 January 2011
Andy Coulson resigns from No 10 post.

26 January 2011
Operation Weeting was announced. (MET Press Statement at start of Operation Weeting)

The MPS has today (26 January) received significant new information from News International relating to allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World in 2005/06. As a result, the MPS is launching a new investigation to consider this material... The original phone hacking investigation was undertaken by the Counter Terrorism Command in Specialist Operations. However, in view of their current workload and the continuing 'Severe' threat level, it has been agreed that it is no longer appropriate to divert them or Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates from their main duties and responsibilities. Accordingly, this new investigation will be led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers from the Specialist Crime Directorate.

Late January 2011

...a News International executive may have deleted millions of emails from an internal archive in an apparent attempt to obstruct Scotland Yard's inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal.

 (Guardian)

31 January 2011
A data company may have pressured News Int to admit the backed-up pre-2007 email archive still existed - "no emails had been lost en route to Mumbai or anywhere else in India" - they had been located, near Bristol.

May 2011
Former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord MacDonald, was hired by global parent company News Corporation to re-inspect some of the Harbottle and Lewis email files - ignored since 2007.  It took him just minutes to conclude that the emails must be handed to the police.
(Qs 1056-1060 Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee)

18 July 2011
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates (Counter Terrorism Command, Specialist Operations) resigned.

The News Corp Board followed Lord MacDonald's advice and the emails were provided to the MET Police.  These emails were the kick-start for the MET to intiate Operation Elevedon, their investigation into corruption of police officers and other public officials.

Who could have predicted?  You start with one rogue email and end up with a BIG can of worms...

Related Articles
John Yates And Neil Wallis - A Mutual Understanding
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent
News Corp - Diplomatic Immunity?
The Cook-Hames Surveillance : A Watched Kettle...
Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

News Corp - Diplomatic Immunity?

A new piece from my regular contributor:

A key deadline has just passed for new claimants in Hackgate litigation. A few 'Lead Cases' may be selected for first hearings tranche - to establish some common case principles - whilst others may choose to settle their claims with News International/News Group Newspapers (NGN) before their cases are due to come to court c. May 2013.  New case-management rules have now been advised which affect allegations over and above phone-hacking alone (Carter-Ruck):

A prerequisite to joining the Claimant Group is that the claim against NGN must be for a breach of privacy/confidence and/or harassment and/or a breach of the Data Protection Act. The claim does not, however, have to include phone hacking, but may involve a claim for computer hacking or “any other investigative method” (such as surveillance) carried out by NGN.... the vast majority of the claims to date and those in the new Claimant Group relate to phone hacking by the News of the World. However, there may well be claims emerging in the future that allege phone or computer hacking by The Sun, a separate NGN title. In an important decision, Mr Justice Vos ordered that cases against The Sun would also fall within the new Claimant Group. How this will work in practice will be interesting to see as NGN has now admitted many of the phone hacking allegations made against the News of the World but not in respect of The Sun. Claims against The Sun are therefore likely to be more contentious and may not fit neatly into the scheme of the litigation and so Mr Justice Vos has provided a mechanism whereby Claimants with claims which are only against The Sun may ask him for specific directions on how their case should be handled.

It is of course well known that victims include politicians.  Some have settled with NGN already, others are amongst new claimants, and a few have opted not to take any action.  Their names have trickled out into the public domain.  And that in itself is problematic. Their very names invoke our subjective responses, dependent on our likes and dislikes ot them individually or their party affiliations - focusing on WHO induces our gut feelings.  A different emphasis is revealed by looking at WHAT rather than who - what roles, what functions, what Offices of State etc were targeted during the relevant time period.
Looked at from this perspective, it's audacious. It's breathtaking. It's shocking.

a)  Peter Hain, MP (Lab), Leader of House of Commons, Secretary of State fro Northern Ireland, Secretary of State for Wales, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, junior minister Foreign and Commonwealth Office, candidate for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

b)  John Prescott, MP (Lab), Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions, candidate for Leader of the Labour Party

c)  Peter Mandelson, MP (Lab), European Commissioner for Trade, Minister without Portfolio, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

d)  Claire Ward, MP (Lab), Member of Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport

e)  Gordon Brown, MP (Lab), Prime Minister, Cabinet Member, Chancellor of the Exchequer

f)  Chris Bryant, MP (Lab), Minister for Europe, Parliamentary under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, member Home Affairs Select Committee

g)  Tom Watson, MP (Lab), Deputy Chair of Labour Party, Assistant Government Whip, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Minister of Defence, member Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee

h)  Tessa Jowell, MP (Lab), Minister of State Department of Health, Minister of Health Department of Education and Employment, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Paymaster General, Minister for London, Minister for the Cabinet Office

i)  Neil Kinnock, MP (Lab) Leader of the Labour Party, Leader of the Opposition, European Commissioner, Vice-President of the European Commission, Chairman of the British Council

j)  Glenys Kinnock, MEP (Lab) Member of European Council for Foreign Relations, Minister for Europe, Minister of State for Africa and the Unkted Nations

k)  Stephen Byers, MP (Lab), Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, member of Home Affairs Select Committee, Whips Office

l)  David Blunkett, MP (Lab), Secretary for Education and Employment, Home Secretary, Secretary for Work and Pensions.  (Specifically named in Operation Weeting phone hacking charges)

m)  Charles Clarke, MP (Lab), junior Education minister, Minister of State for Education, Home Secretary.  (Specifically named in Operation Weeting phone hacking charges)

n)  Mark Oaten, MP (Lib Dem), Home Affairs spokesperson, candidate for Leader of Liberal Democrat Party

o)  Nigel Farage MEP, (UKIP), Party Leader

p)  Tommy Sheridan co-Convener (Solidarity Scotland), Holyrood MSP candidate, candidate for European Parliament

q)  Martin Salter, MP (Lab), member of Select Committee on Northern Ireland, member of Home Affairs Select Committee, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister,

r)  Denis McShane, MP (Lab), junior Minister for Foreign Office, Minister for Europe

s)  George Galloway, MP (Respect), MP (Lab), Holyrood MSP candidate,

t)  Jack McConnell, MSP (Lab), First Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs,  Prime Minister's Special Representative for Conflict Resolutions Mechanisms

u)  Boris Johnson MP (Con), Shadow Minister for the Arts, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, Mayor of London

v)  Simon Hughes, MP (Lib Dem), Deputy Leader of Liberal Democrat Party, President of Liberal Democrats, candidate for Mayor of London, candidate for Leader of Liberal Democrat Party

w)  Nick Brown, MP (Lab), Chief Whip, Agriculture Minister

x)  Joan McAlpine, MSP (SNP) Parliamentary Aide to First Minister Alex Salmond, member Scottish Parliamentary Committee for Education and Culture

y)  Alex Salmond, MSP, First Minister, formerly SNP MP for Banff and Buchan, (does not confirm or deny that his phone was hacked)

Clearly, the majority of politician victims are Labour and allegedly subject to a variety of illegalities - phone hacking, blagging, computer hacking, burglary. The range of political office holders is remarkable, and includes one Prime Minister and two Scottish First Ministers.  Of course these are just the national politicians. The list does not include others who could also be deemed 'political' eg Alistair Campbell, Cherie Blair, political opponents and defenders of Tommy Sheridan or union leaders such as the late Sir Gavin Laird, Andy Gilchrist and Bob Crowe.

If another nation state had targeted the democratic functioning of the UK in the same way - rather than News Corporation - there would be calls for a United Nations Security Council resolution on sanctions, and their diplomats would be deported.

But we'd best leave it there - for one thing, we're running out of alphabet...

Related Articles
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent
The Milly Dowler Hacking - Part 1: Questions Still Unanswered
Operation Tuleta - A Second Look
Some Intriguing Hackgate "Known Unknowns"
Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

The Cook-Hames Surveillance : A Watched Kettle...

The latest piece from my regular contributor.

In the long, long list of civil actions brought against  News Group Newspapers (NGN), Claim HC11C02844 stands out from all the others.  Most  claims are against NGN and Mulcaire. However, Claim HC11C02844 (p 9) reads:

David Cook and Jacqui Hames v (1) NGN (2) Glenn Mulcaire (3) Alex Marunchak (4) Greg Miskiw

Started in Aug 2011, this particular litigation tops the league as the sole action against FOUR names. The civil action relates to allegations that the News of the World was implicated in illegal information gathering and covert surveillance of Cook and his then wife, Jacqui Hames, in 2002.  Both were serving Metropolitan Police Service (MET) police officers.  This has been in the public domain for some time - for example, covered by C4 News.

Hames' evidence to the the Leveson Inquiry on the subject can be read here pp 97-110.  There are as yet no known arrests in relation to these specific allegations.

Campaigning group Hacked Off described the personal devestation caused as 'the triple betrayal of Jacqui Hames' - sold out bt the MET, sold out to News International, and kept in the dark for years by police investigators.

The role of Southern Investigations in the Cook/Hames surveillance has also been reported widely.  In summary, there was an alleged chain of actions initiated in summer 2002 by Jonathan Rees from prison. Rees conferred with Sid Fillery, Fillery made arrangements with News of the World's Alex Marunchak for the surveillance, Marunchak liaised with NotW's Greg Miskiw on illegally obtaining personal information, Miskiw commissioned another private investigator with computer hacking skills, and also commissioned Glenn Mulcaire to undertake blagging and phone hacking. For background, see this Guardian report.

Some months later, Rebekah Wade was said to have been confronted at Scotland Yard about NotW's complicity.  Dick Fedorcio (who was at the meeting) says that he mentioned it to then MET Commissioner John Stevens but Stevens disputes this.  Of additional note is the seeming ignorance and confusion evidenced by John Stevens and Dick Fedorcio about Southern Investigations and its well-known history of corruption.

Stevens' evidence to the Leveson Inquiry demonstrates a surprising inablity to join the dots.

Mr Jay: Were you aware, at the time when you were Deputy Commissioner and/or Commissioner, that the News of the World were extensively using a private investigation company called Southern Investigations?
A:  No.
Q. Did there ever come a time when you were aware of that?
 A. No.
Q. So does this follow: that you weren't aware that the News of the World made extensive use of Southern Investigations illegally to obtain information about police officers?
A. No.
...
Q. You say in your book: "At the end of the 1990s, an independent detective agency called Southern Investigations, based in Sydenham, was frequently coming up on the anti-corruption squad's radar." So when did you become aware of that?
A. As Deputy Commissioner, a presentation was made to me to try and get a probe into Southern Investigations' offices....
...
Q. ...your book goes on to say: "Eventually, it became possible to monitor conversations and the hidden microphones picked up much intelligence about the activities going on inside. Via the agency, corrupt officers were selling stories about their investigations to newspapers and being paid quite handsome amounts of money, an unsavoury business all around."
A. Yes.
Q. So when did you become aware of that?
A. When prosecutions took place, and one or two people were successfully prosecuted.
...
Q. Taking it forward then to Crimewatch in 2002. An appeal was made on Crimewatch. DCS Cook, I think, made the appeal on behalf of the Metropolitan Police. Was this in relation to reopening the inquiry into the murder of Mr Morgan?
A. Yes, where we put a considerable amount of resources into.
Q. Were you aware of that at the time, of the Crimewatch appeal, that is?
A. No.
Q. Were you aware that Mr Cook and his family, including, of course, Jacqui Hames, were placed under surveillance by the News of the World?
A. No.
Q. Did that come to your attention later or not at all?
A. I can't remember anyone mentioning that to me in person, no.
Q. Were you aware that in about 2004, Southern Investigations was gathering evidence on senior MPS personnel, and some of that evidence related to their private lives?
A. No. 

Well, at least Stevens is consistent about his ignorance.  Fedorcio's evidence (p 57 & p 58), by contrast, is markedly contradictory:

Q. So was the name "Southern Investigations" something you heard for the first time at the meeting?
A. I think I'd heard of them in previous anti-corruption activity. So when the name came up, it wasn't a surprise to me.
...
Q. Were you aware of the corruption investigation into MPS police officers leaking information to Southern Investigations?
A. I don't think so, no.

Mindful of any traducing of her reputation, Rebekah Brooks (as Core Participant) made a Closing Submission to Leveson which names Jacqui Hames (p5) as one whose evidence either (a) made assertions for which there is little or no evidential basis; (b) gave evidence as to matters which are yet to be tested in court; or; (c) appeared to be using the Inquiry to settle old scores.

And what does DCS Dave Cook have to say?  Nothing, as he was effectively silenced by the independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) when they arrested him last January.

The timing is very significant  Cook had just returned to duties for the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) after six months sick leave.  The arrest was reportedly executed the day that Cook requested an opportunity to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, and sought Core Participant status. The timing is therefore very reminiscent of the way that former-ICO investigator was raided and threatened with prosecution on the eve of his evidence to Leveson.

So Dave Cook is kettled in silent limbo - waiting for that tardy IPCC/CPS charging decision, or perhaps disciplinary or dismissal.

And still waiting for overdue and decisive MET legal action in relation to Case HC11C02844.

Related Articles
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent
The Milly Dowler Hacking - Part 1: Questions Still Unanswered
Operation Tuleta - A Second Look
Some Intriguing Hackgate "Known Unknowns"

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com