Wednesday 18 July 2012

Glenn Mulcaire forced to reveal who gave phone-hacking order

Investigator used by the News of the World told to reveal who told him to hack Max Clifford assistant's phone
Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator used by the News of the World has been forced to reveal who ordered him to hack the phone of an assistant to PR Max Clifford in compliance with a supreme court order.

He was due to hand over the information in relation to the hacking of the phone of Nicola Phillips phone at 4pm on Wednesday.

But a high court judge, Mr Justice Vos ruled this information should only be handed to her barrister, her solicitor and to the Metropolitan police and could not be shared by other litigants who are suing News International over alleged phone hacking.

He will hold a separate one-day hearing to determine how widely the Mulcaire witness statement could be shared on 30 July, he said.

Lawyers acting for 50 phone-hacking victims argued at a case management conference hearing on Wednesday that this information could be critical to their claims.
Vos agreed there was some merit in their argument, but said he did not want to make "a knee-jerk decision" as he could "foresee there are difficult questions that affect his rights, his article 6 rights".
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights relates to an individual's right to a fair trial.
Mulcaire, who was jailed in 2007 for charges in relation to hacking of phones of members of the royal household, had argued that disclosure could leave himself open further prosecution.

Lisa O’Carroll
The Guardian