Phone-hacking review widened
By Ian Dunt
The review into phone-hacking at the News of the World has been expanded to include fresh claims by alleged victims.
The decision means the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) re-examination of the evidence around the scandal might now include phone-hacking undertaken by other newspapers.
The news comes as the first claim against a rival newspaper group, Trinity Mirror, emerged.
Former Shrewsbury MP Paul Marsden is taking legal action against the group, which owns the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and the People.
“Trinity Mirror’s position is clear,” the company said.
“Our journalists work within the criminal law and the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct.”
The allegation threatens to turn what has, until now, been a News of the World problem into one which engulfs the whole tabloid industry.
Director of prosecutions Keir Starmer said he has asked Alison Levitt QC to take a “robust approach” to advising the Metropolitan police on further investigations or potential prosecutions.
The marked change in tone from the CPS suggests that authorities are now intent on acting on the row, after allegations that the CPS, which previously refused to pursue prosecutions, and the Met, which refused to reopen the case, had failed to take the matter seriously.
Last week Downing Street director of communications and former News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigned due to relentless media pressure over the row.
