POLICE OFFICERS investigating phone hacking by the British Sunday tabloid the News of the Worldare turning their attention to examine every high-profile case involving the murder, abduction or attack on any child since 2001 in response to the revelation that journalists from the newspaper hacked into the voicemail messages of the murdered British schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
The move is a direct response to revelations that a private investigator working for the tabloid, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News International corporation, Glenn Mulcaire, caused her parents to wrongly believe she was still alive – and interfered with police inquiries into her disappearance – by hacking into the teenager’s mobile phone and deleting messages.
The case of Madeleine McCann is expected to be one of the first to be re-examined by detectives from Scotland Yard.
Officers have already told the parents of the girls killed in Soham, eastern England, in 2002 by Ian Huntley that their mobile phones had been hacked.
British prime minister David Cameron led a chorus of condemnation yesterday after allegations that the News of the Worldhacked into the voicemail of Milly Dowler after she had gone missing.
Journalists from the newspaper listened in to messages left by Milly’s friends after she disappeared in March 2002 – even deleting some messages to make room for more, leading some people to believe, it is now alleged, that she might have been still alive.
News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, who edited the tabloid in 2002, last night rejected calls for her resignation led by Labour leader Ed Miliband. Saying that News International would “face up to the mistakes and wrongdoing of the past”, Ms Brooks, in a message to staff, said: “I hope that you all realise it is inconceivable that I knew or sanctioned these appalling allegations”.
At least one major advertiser, carmaker Ford, said it was pulling ads from the News of the World– though not the other Rupert Murdoch-owned papers – until it saw how the tabloid dealt with the allegations.
Yesterday Mr Cameron – who is a friend of Ms Brooks – and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg issued strongly worded condemnations. “The mindset of somebody who thinks it’s appropriate to do that is totally sick,” Mr Cameron said during a visit to Afghanistan.
The widening voicemail hacking scandal surrounding the Sunday newspaper led, unusually, to the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, accepting a call from MPs for an emergency three-hour debate on the revelations today. – (additional reporting Guardianservice)