Mazher Mahmood using private eye to target Tom Watson during Parliamentary Inquiry into Phone Hacking

The final edition of News of the World, published on 10 July 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another anomaly from Mazher Mahmood‘s evidence at the Leveson inquiry that he never employed a private detective after his extensive work with Southern Investigations in the 90s.

This is from 2009 when Tom Watson was asking questions as a member of the DCMS select committee about News of the World phone hacking

Right up unto 2009, while at News of the World,  Mahmood commissioned a private investigator to stalk Tom Watson MP at a Labour Party conference.

Watson told the Leveson Inquiry that Mahmood – known as the ‘Fake Sheikh – hired Derek Webb to trail him in 2009, to establish whether he was having an affair.

Watson was then a prominent member of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee examining phone hacking at the News of the World. He claimed that  News International had a vendetta against him after he spoke out against the company.

Webb – a former police officer and nicknamed ‘the silent shadow’ – followed Watson and another Labour MP for seven days during the Brighton conference, billing News of the World in excess of a £1000 for his services.

(Around the same time Webb was also surveilling key lawyers in the phone hacking scandal – Charlotte Harris and Mark Lewis)

An email exchange published by the Independent on Sunday with Ian Edmondson and James Mellor , show that Mahmood was the source of the erroneous tip off.

Was this abortive investigation in the public interest or part of the task of the free press to expose corruption?

Or was it – like the legal moves involving the Attorney General and the Panorama expose of the Fake Sheikh – a politicized  attempt to intimidate and silence critics through character assassination?

Read the emails below and come to your own conclusion:

Mulcaire, Miskiw, Mahmood and the Special Investigations Unit set up by Rebekah Brooks at News of the World

#451493332 / gettyimages.com

Before Panorama airs at 7.30 tonight, after two delays, it might be worth looking at the background of MazHer Mahmood, aka the Fake Sheikh, at News of the World under the editorship of Rebekah Brooks, from early 2000 to early 2003.

Mahmood’s activities in the decade leading up to this have been covered in  a previous post about his connections with Southern Investigations. But the problems with that notorious private investigations firm, due to police inquiries and arrests of key personnel around this time, may explain what happened next.

Investigations were taken in house.

One of the first things Brooks did as editor of Britain’s best selling paper was to recall Greg Miskiw from New York, where he had set up office, and form an Investigations Team that worked outside both the Features and News Desk. From various bits of evidence show the floating membership from 2000 onwards to consist of:

Greg Miskiw – head

Neville Thurlbeck – reporter

Sarah Arnold – reporter

Paul McMullan – reporter

Glenn Mulcaire (as reported by Geoff Sweet in the sports pages)

Mazher Mahmood – undercover reporter

Bradley Page – photographer who replaced his father in law Steve Grayson

Conrad Brown – technical and surveillance

Mr Justice Saunders’ Sentencing remarks on Ian Edmondson

#456580586 / gettyimages.com

It’s been a busy week in events connected to the hacking trial. As previous posts here have tried to explain there has been new evidence about Rebekah Brooks’ authorisation of cash payments from the trial of six Sun journalists at Kingston Crown Court; and two ongoing trials at the Old Bailey. The jury returned a guilty verdict for one News of the World journalist for ‘conspiracy to commit misconduct in public officer’ for paying a prison officer for stories about Jon Venables. This journalist cannot be named for legal reasons.

Meanwhile, the famous News of the World ‘fake sheikh’, Mazher Mahmood, lost a high court battle to prevent his image being broadcast in a BBC 1 Panorama documentary about his activity  this coming Monday at 8.30 pm  – various blog posts, here, here and here about Mr Mr Mahmood. And then today we had the sentencing of the fourth news desk editor Ian Edmondson for Phone hacking at the main hacking trial. Mr Justice Saunders remarks are reprinted below in full

BREAKING: No Further Action against News International Lawyer Tom Crone: NOTW desk editor Edmondson pleads guilty to hacking –

#135727427 / gettyimages.com

 

As reported earlier, Ian Edmondson pleaded guilty to phone hacking in the Old Bailey today, completing the main phase of police operation Weeting with seven convictions for the nine charged with conspiracy to phone hack since 2011. As well as private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, two reporters, four desk editor and the editor of the News of the World, Andy Coulson, have now been convicted. Rebekah Brooks and former managing editor Stuart Kuttner were acquitted. (The prosecution sentencing note is attached here as a pdf)

Hacking Trial Live Tweets – 20 Mar

Thursday 20 March 2014

Summary
	Clive Goodman is Cross Examined by Counsel for Andy Coulson
		Langdale questions Goodman on Phone Hacking
		Cash Payments
		Goodman questioned on Articles and Payments
		Editor’s Conferences
		Goodman questioned on Coulson
		More questions on Hacking

UNREDACTED: Farrer’s Advice to News International – the Surveillance of Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris

I held this back during the hacking trial for obvious reasons, but am publishing this now. Since Ian Edmondson has pleaded guilty to phone hacking, and the CPS has decided ‘no further action’ against Tom Crone, I can also unredact their names: IE were the initials next to SK in the first transcript: the second is transcript of a conversation between Julian Pike and Tom Crone.

The email release from the CPS of a legal note from Julian Pike, from Farrer’s and Co, briefing Rebekah Brooks and Colin Myler about the state of play in the civil phone hacking cases in January 2010, has caused me to revisit some of the other evidence of Julian Pike, both to the Leveson Inquiry and a parliamentary Home Affairs select committee, about this crucial phase in the legal timeline

Though Pike is not the subject of any know police inquiry, and any other sensitive names have been redacted, I’m still password protecting this post: any public links to previous Parliamentary or Leveson evidence could be deemed prejudicial

This brief timeline begins a year  after the sentencing of Mulcaire and Goodman in January 2007.   Colin Myler has taken over from Andy Coulson after his resignation, and Les Hinton leaving his job as CEO of News International to take of the job of Dow Jones publisher in NYC. But Clive Goodman is still pursuing a wrongful dismissal claim.  A note Pike made of phone call with Myler on 27 May 2008 was adduced by the Leveson inquiry:

Hacking Trial Live Tweets – 12 Dec

Thursday 12 December 2013

Summary
	The Prosecution Case Continues
		Back at the Hacking Trial
	Witness – Operation Weeting Detective DC Alan Pritchard
		Prosecution Counsel questions DC Alan Pritchard
	Witness – Operation Elveden Detective Inspector Kennett
		Prosecution Counsel questions DI Kennett
		Counsel for Clive Goodman cross examines DI Kennett
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines DI Kennett
	Witness – Operation Weeting Detective DC Guest
		Prosecution Counsel questions DC Guest
	Witness – Operation Elveden Detective DS Brian Cook
		Prosecution Counsel questions DS Brian Cook
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines DS Cook
		Ian Edmondson Trial Postponed
	Witness – Operation Elveden Detective DC Emberson
		Prosecution Counsel questions DC Emberson
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines DC Emberson
	Witness – Operation Weeting Detective DC Richard Scott
		Prosecution Counsel questions DC Richard Scott
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines DC Richard Scott
	Witness – Sir Michael Peat (Private Secretary to Prince Charles)
		Prosecution Counsel questions Sir Michael Peat
		Counsel for Clive Goodman cross examines Sir Michael Peat

Hacking Trial Live Tweets – 25 Nov

Monday 25 November 2013

Summary
	The Prosecution Case Continues
		A witness from Los Angeles later this week
		Giving evidence – Operation Weeting Detective DC Fletcher
	Witness – Fiona Makin (former PA to Stuart Kuttner)
		Prosecution Counsel questions Fiona Makin
		Counsel for Stuart Kuttner cross examines Fiona Makin
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines Fiona Makin
	Timeline – Eimear Cook (wife of golfer Colin Montgomery)
		Counsel for the Prosecution Andrew Edis QC
		Eimear Cook delayed
	Evidence on Andy Coulson
		More Evidence on Andy Coulson
		Clive Goodman recorded conversation with Andy Coulson
	Timeline – Eimear Cook (wife of golfer Colin Montgomery)
		Prosecution Counsel questions Eimear Cook
		Counsel for Rebekah Brooks cross examines Eimear Cook
		Further Prosecution question to Eimear Cook

Hacking Trial Live Tweets – 21 Nov

Thursday 21 November 2013

Summary
	The Prosecution Case Continues
		Back at the Old Bailey
	Additional Evidence presented to Jury
		Prosecution Counsel Bryant Henron
	Witness – Beverley Stokes
		Prosecution Counsel questions Beverley Stokes
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines Beverley Stokes
		Counsel for Stuart Kuttner cross examines Beverley Stokes
	Witness – Operation Weeting Detective DC Ryall
		Prosecution Counsel questions DC Ryall
	Witness – Operation Weeting Detective DC Andrea Fletcher
		Prosecution Counsel questions DC Andrea Fletcher

Hacking Trial Live Tweets – 20 Nov

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Summary
	The Prosecution Case Continues
		Back at the Old Bailey
	Witness – Frances Carmen (former News desk secretary at the NOTW)
		Counsel for Ian Edmondson cross examines Frances Carmen
	Witness – Nick McCaul (formerly of the Finance department of the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel questions Nick McCaul
		Counsel for Ian Edmondson cross examines Nick McCaul
		Counsel for Rebekah Brooks cross examines Nick McCaul
	Witness – James Morgan (formerly of the Finance department of the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel questions James Morgan
		Counsel for Stuart Kuttner cross examines James Morgan
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross examines James Morgan
		Counsel for Ian Edmondson cross examines James Morgan
		Counsel for Rebekah Brooks cross examines James Morgan
		Counsel for Ian Edmondson cross examines James Morgan
		Further Prosecution question to James Morgan
	Witness – Barney Monahan (qualified solicitor and legal advisor to the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel questions Barney Monahan
		Counsel for Rebekah Brooks cross examines Barney Monahan
		Counsel for Ian Edmondson cross examines Barney Monahan
	Witness – Andrew Gadd (Investigative Researcher for the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel questions Andrew Gadd
		Counsel for Ian Edmondson cross examines Andrew Gadd
		Counsel for Stuart Kuttner cross examines Andrew Gadd
	Written Statement – Amanda Burgess (former News Desk Secretary for the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel Bryant Heron
	Written Statement – James Fletcher (Chief Northern Football writer for the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel Bryant Heron
		Counsel for Andy Coulson cross reads from James Fletcher statement
	Written Statement – Dominic Herbert (Cardiff district reporter for the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel Bryant Heron
	Written Statement – Paul Kennedy (Manchester reporter for the NOTW)
		Prosecution Counsel Bryant Heron
	Documentary Evidence relating to Count 1 Defendants
		Giving evidence – Operation Weeting Detective DC Andrew Ryall