Police to interview Rebekah Brooks under caution

Police to interview Brooks under caution
By Jane Merrick and Brian Brady
Sunday, 10 July 2011

Rebekah Brooks will be questioned by detectives over what she knew about the hacking scandal, it emerged last night.

The News International chief executive and former NOTW editor will be spoken to as a witness rather than a suspect, company sources said, but is expected to be interviewed under caution within weeks.

In a letter to MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee yesterday, Mrs Brooks insisted she had "no knowledge whatsoever" of phone hacking in the case of Milly Dowler or "in any other cases during my tenure".

It also emerged yesterday that the actor Hugh Grant, the parents of Milly Dowler and other interested parties will meet David Cameron and Nick Clegg tomorrow morning at the Cabinet Office.

Last night John Yates, who headed the original Scotland Yard investigation into phone hacking, which led to the successful prosecution of NOTW private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman, the paper's former royal reporter, admitted he had failed victims by not conducting a wider investigation. He told The Sunday Telegraph: "I have regrettably said the initial inquiry was a success. Clearly, now that looks very different."

In another development, the Church of England threatened to pull its £4m of investments from News Corporation if "senior managers" are not held to account.

The church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group said it had written to News Corp describing the behaviour of the NOTW as "utterly reprehensible".

isar wrote:Alan Rusberger (edit. in chief Guardian) on Sky News now:

'there's much more to come out re: the NOWT regarding phone tapping and WORSE'

Chris wrote:

isar wrote:Alan Rusberger (edit. in chief Guardian) on Sky News now:

'there's much more to come out re: the NOWT regarding phone tapping and WORSE'

Rusbridger is just trying to sell next weeks editions. If there is worse to come why do these idiots keeping saying it rather than revealing what is yet to come.

isar wrote:

Chris wrote:

isar wrote:Alan Rusberger (edit. in chief Guardian) on Sky News now:

'there's much more to come out re: the NOWT regarding phone tapping and WORSE'

Rusbridger is just trying to sell next weeks editions. If there is worse to come why do these idiots keeping saying it rather than revealing what is yet to come.

all true, guess it's a game of who blinks first

Cameron will visit Milly's family tomorrow

- photo opportunity maybe

- Road to Damascus - equally possible

personally I think 'Call me Dave' is toast

Chris wrote:

isar wrote:

Chris wrote:

isar wrote:Alan Rusberger (edit. in chief Guardian) on Sky News now:

'there's much more to come out re: the NOWT regarding phone tapping and WORSE'

Rusbridger is just trying to sell next weeks editions. If there is worse to come why do these idiots keeping saying it rather than revealing what is yet to come.

all true, guess it's a game of who blinks first

Cameron will visit Milly's family tomorrow

- photo opportunity maybe

- Road to Damascus - equally possible

personally I think 'Call me Dave' is toast

Can't see the Dowler family visit to senior politicians is anything more than a publicity stunt by someone. Can they really add anything to the story? Seems a case of Cameron, Clegg and Little Ed feigning concern for public consumption.

isar wrote:Alan Rusberger (edit. in chief Guardian) on Sky News now:

'there's much more to come out re: the NOWT regarding phone tapping and WORSE'

kitti wrote:

isar wrote:Alan Rusberger (edit. in chief Guardian) on Sky News now:

'there's much more to come out re: the NOWT regarding phone tapping and WORSE'

Because SHE has also said or warned ....theirs worse to come.

Carolina wrote:This NI scandal shows greedy capitalism at its best. Everything is for sale and to make a buck, murder and mayhem, the grief and despair of families of victims, hampering police investigations to make money. Absolutely sickening. For Murdoch it is also about Power. I can't help but thinking that Murdoch is 82 and all that power and money didn't stop nature taking its course and making him a very old man who just might kick the bucket any day. It's all so transient.

Rebekah Wade: Profile

Rebekah Wade was News of the World editor at 31

Sun editor Rebekah Wade has been making headlines of her own after her arrest for allegedly assaulting her EastEnders actor husband Ross Kemp.

Ms Wade, 37, has attracted attention and controversy throughout a Fleet Street career in which she became the first female editor of the Sun in January 2003.

In a previous stint as deputy editor, she battled against the newspaper's institution of page three.

She steered clear of moral judgments and argued topless women were bad for business, maintaining that page three was working against efforts to draw more young women readers in.

Since becoming editor, though, Ms Wade has dropped the issue, although topless women often get shunted off page three.

'Last chance'

A significant feature of her reign as editor at the Sun has been that the paper has become more critical of the Labour government.

Despite this, the paper still came out in support of the party two weeks before the General Election in May, although that support came under the headline "One Last Chance".

Before her current role at the Sun, Ms Wade became one of Fleet Street's youngest ever editors at the age of 31 when she took the top job at the News of the World in May 2000.

She had an often colourful reign at the News of the World.

After the murder of schoolgirl Sarah Payne she was blamed by critics for driving paedophiles underground and inspiring mobs to run riot in Portsmouth.

Ms Wade was vilified for publishing the names and photographs of known sex-offenders to protect children.

Some police officers claimed Ms Wade's tactics were wrecking investigations.

Tony Butler, the then chief constable of Gloucestershire police, denounced her for "grossly irresponsible" journalism.

Some media pundits accused her of trying to cash in on eight-year-old Sarah's death.

Populist touch

But Ms Wade struck a chord with many parents and the News of the World sold an extra 95,000 copies a week after a period of decline.


Rebekah Wade is married to EastEnders actor Ross Kemp
She had been appointed for her populist touch and News International bosses were unlikely to have been disappointed by the progress of a journalist known for her "terrifying" ambition and ability to attract female readers.

In response to her new appointment, News International executive chairman Les Hinton said: "Rebekah has grown up in the News International stable of publications and become one of the brightest young talents in Fleet Street".

Even before the anti-paedophile campaign, Ms Wade had made her name by succeeding in the traditionally male-dominated tabloid newspaper world.

Taking over from Phil Hall at the News of the World, she had proved her worth after two years as David Yelland's deputy editor at The Sun.

Cheshire roots

Ms Wade decided to be a journalist when she was 14 and began her career a long way from the tabloids, on Architecture Aujourd'hui in Paris, where she made use of her fluent French.

She returned to her Cheshire roots to work for Eddie Shah's Messenger Group and, later, his Post newspaper.

When she turned 20, Ms Wade got her first taste of life at the News of the World, joining its Sunday magazine.

She rose to the position of deputy editor on the magazine before being sent to The Sun in 1998.

As chairwoman of Women in Journalism, she was behind research into the portrayal of women in the press.

She said: "Our research shows that women are significantly under-represented in newspapers, even though they make up almost half the readers.

"In a highly competitive newspaper market, every editor needs to appeal to female readers to boost their circulation."

Ms Wade is extremely well connected and has been invited to Tony Blair's offices on a number of occasions.

She was also invited to the Prince of Wales' 50th birthday party.

Often described as a "consummate networker", she is said to count tabloid favourites such as Sheryl Gascoigne among her friends.

comperedna wrote:I saw her on TV being interviewed by a House of Commons Committee, admitting the NOW had paid policemen for information (an absolute offence constituting corruption). Andy Colson was sitting beside her, and chipped in that they always stayed within the law... 'Rubbish' he was told it is always illegal to hand over cash to a policeman for any kind of favour... including passing on information. No wonder he got arrested. It is not one of those things where you can claim a defence of: 'It was in the public interest'. It is never in the public interest to bribe a policeman.

Panda wrote:This is strange, I just read on Sky Breaking news a Statement by Rebekah again denying any knowledge of hacking, copied and opened up this
thread to paste and nothing happened, when I went back to sky News it has been whooshed clucked.

Anyway, it"s alll academic now because the latest Studio dscussion informs us that Rebekah at a meeting with Coulson and a Police Officer in 2003
said something like "oh, I didn"t know we paid the Police". How can she still say she didn"t know.????

Merina wrote:

Panda wrote:This is strange, I just read on Sky Breaking news a Statement by Rebekah again denying any knowledge of hacking, copied and opened up this
thread to paste and nothing happened, when I went back to sky News it has been whooshed clucked.

Anyway, it"s alll academic now because the latest Studio dscussion informs us that Rebekah at a meeting with Coulson and a Police Officer in 2003
said something like "oh, I didn"t know we paid the Police". How can she still say she didn"t know.????

don't know if this helps

carmen wrote:What happened there??

*sighs of relief* Panda re the Mensa criteria - some of us would have to slink off

Good find with that screenshot Merina

Business editor
More from Robert
News International found “smoking gun” emails in 2007
COMMENTS

News International found emails in 2007 that appeared to indicate that payments were being made to the police for information, although this evidence of alleged criminal behaviour was not handed to the Metropolitan Police for investigation until 20 June of this year.

According to sources, these emails were in the possession of the firm of solicitors Harbottle & Lewis.

They were retrieved from Harbottle & Lewis by William Lewis, general manager of News International - who is in charge of News International's investigation into what went wrong at the News of the World (and who was recruited by News International last July).

The emails appear to show Andy Coulson, editor of the News of the World from 2003-2007, authorising payments to the police for help with stories.

They also appear to show that phone hacking went wider than the activities of a single rogue reporter, which was the News of the World's claim at the time.

Mr Coulson, who subsequently became David Cameron's Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street, was arrested and bailed last week.

In a letter presented to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee, Harbottle & Lewis confirmed that it had been asked by News International to review whether the illegal actions of Clive Goodman - the News of the World's former Royal editor jailed in 2007 for phone hacking - were known to his News of the World colleagues.

In this letter, dated May 29 2007, and sent to Jon Chapman of News International, Lawrence Abramson of Harbottle & Lewis wrote that it had "reviewed emails to which you have provided access from the accounts of Andy Coulson, Stuart Kuttner, Ian Edmondson, Clive Goodman, Neil Wallis, Jules Stenson".

Mr Abramson confirmed to Mr Chapman that it "did not find anything in those emails which appeared to us to be reasonable evidence that Clive Goodman's illegal actions were known about and supported by both or either of Andy Coulson, the editor, and Neil Wallis, the deputy editor, and/or that Ian Edmondson, the news editor, and others were carrying out similar illegal procedures."

The letter from Mr Abramson to Mr Chapman makes no mention of whether the emails contain evidence of wrongdoing by journalists other than Mr Goodman.

However when William Lewis and his fellow News International executives re-acquired those emails from Harbottle & Lewis, they found what they perceived to be prima facie evidence that the illegal phone hacking went wider than just the activities of Mr Goodman and that there were potentially illegal payments to the police.

William Lewis went looking for these emails after the Metropolitan police of Operation Weeting, who are investigating alleged phone hacking, enquired about the existence of 2,500 emails that Colin Myler - who replaced Andy Coulson as editor of the News of the World - mentioned to MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport committee.

He told the MPs these emails been trawled through as part of his own enquiry into whether hacking was carried out by others than Mr Goodman.

In response to a question by the MP Philip Davies about whether Mr Goodman was working alone, Mr Myler said: "I conducted this inquiry with Daniel Cloke, our Director of Human Resources. Over 2500 emails were accessed because we were exploring whether or not there was any other evidence to suggest essentially what you are hinting at. No evidence was found; that is up to 2500 emails".

William Lewis and his News International colleagues on a newly created Management and Standards Committee have not found the full 2500 emails mentioned by Mr Myler, just the sub-set of 300 that were passed to Harbottle & Lewis.

The disclosure that News International found 300 emails as long ago as 2007, that indicated wider malpractices at the News of the World than those which led to the jailing of Mr Goodman and of the private detective Glen Mulcaire, is likely to increase criticism of News International's chairman, James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch.

In December 2007, James Murdoch took charge of News International as chief executive of the European and Asian operations of its parent company, News Corporation.

Some four months later, in April 2008, he authorised the payment of a substantial out-of-court settlement, running to hundreds of thousands of pounds, with Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, over the hacking of Mr Taylor's phone.

That settlement - which was agreed by Mr Murdoch and signed by News International's chief operating officer at the time, Clive Milner - contained a gagging clause, making it impossible for either party to talk about the settlement or what led to it (though many of its details were subsequently revealed by the Guardian).

Mr Murdoch has now conceded that it was wrong of him to agree to the settlement with Mr Taylor and also to other out-of-court settlements made at a similar time.

He said on Thursday: "I now know that I did not have a complete picture when I did so. This was wrong and is a matter of serious regret".

There have been allegations that Mr Murdoch, in settling with Mr Taylor, was endeavouring to put a lid on the furore to deter a wider police investigation of the News of the World's behaviour.

News International denies this.

It insists that Mr Murdoch only approved the Taylor settlement and gagging clause because he was ignorant of the alleged transgressions by other News of the World journalists.

In particular, News International says Mr Murdoch had no knowledge of the 300 emails that Harbottle & Lewis were asked to review.

comperedna wrote:I saw her on TV being interviewed by a House of Commons Committee, admitting the NOW had paid policemen for information (an absolute offence constituting corruption). Andy Colson was sitting beside her, and chipped in that they always stayed within the law... 'Rubbish' he was told it is always illegal to hand over cash to a policeman for any kind of favour... including passing on information. No wonder he got arrested. It is not one of those things where you can claim a defence of: 'It was in the public interest'. It is never in the public interest to bribe a policeman.