Former journalist and founder of PR company Max Clifford Associates, which dealt with protecting the public image of famous stars and events. He had been the victim of phone-hacking by the News of the World along with several of his clients. In 2014, Clifford was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault on four girls and women aged between 15 and 19. He died on 10 December 2017.
Divisional managing partner at law firm Lewis Silkin specialising in intellectual-property, advertising and marketing, privacy and data-protection, regulatory and reputation-management work. Crown represented the Bowles family at the Inquiry in relation to unwanted and invasive media attention following the death of their 11-year-old son in a coach accident that killed him and 27 others.
Detective Chief Inspector, Specialist Crime Department at the Metropolitan Police Service. Following promotion to Detective Chief Inspector in 2003 he became Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) on the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force. Gave evidence to the Inquiry of press “intrusion” when working on Operation Fishpool in the case of the Stephen Lawrence murder.
Edmondson was news editor at the News of the World at the time of the Inquiry and answered questions on practices of phone-hacking and surveillance at that paper. In April 2011 he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police as part of Operation Weeting, which investigated phone hacking, and subsequently sentenced to seven months in prison for conspiring to intercept voicemail messages.
Born 1972. Former Premiership footballer for Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United and later Manager for lower division clubs. Flitcroft gave evidence at the Inquiry concerning press intrusion he received when injunctions were lifted allowing coverage of his extra-marital affairs.
The ex-wife of former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was designated a Core Participant Victim by the Inquiry. During and after her marriage, Ms Gascoigne and her children were the subjects of intense media scrutiny, she said. She had pursued libel cases against several national newspapers and been awarded damages. She gave evidence of "massive intrusion" into her family's private life and examples of six totally untrue stories printed about her in the Mirror, the Daily Star, the News of the World and the People. She received apologies, statements or costs and damages from all of them, she said, telling the Inquiry that after she had taken action the press treated her with more respect.
English actor and film producer. Dealt in detail with his concerns about his treatment by the press, including the reporting in relation to stories concerning his daughter and his concerns about the way in which particular journalists had accessed that information. Grant was also appointed spokesperson for the campaign group Hacked Off.
Anonymous witness with experience of intrusive press attention, in particular phone hacking.
Detective Chief Inspector with the Avon and Somerset Constabulary. Upon promotion to DCI, Jones was posted to the constabulary's Major Crime Investigation Team taking the lead on all homicide cases within Avon and Somerset force area, which later spread to include Wiltshire. Jones was an investigating office in this constabulary at the time of the murder of Joanna Yeates in Clifton, Bristol. He told he Inquiry how the police operated with the press at this time and their alarm when the Daily Mail and Sun published information possibly harming the police investigation.
At the time of giving evidence, Megone was Professor of Interdisciplinary Applied Ethics at Leeds University, having led a successful £3 million bid for a new Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Inter-Disciplinary Ethics, of which he became director. Told the Inquiry that there was a significant public interest in a free press, but the social purpose or interest which the press serves is not guaranteed to be achieved simply by the freedom given by lack of censorship. The public had an interest in a press which was more than simply "free" in that sense, he said.
Politician and Labour Party leader at the time of the Inquiry, Miliband gave evidence that he believed there should be a cap on media ownership and suggested it should be set lower than the proportion of the market currently then owned by the Murdoch empire. He said he had "no worries" about a company owning 20 per cent of the UK market but above that there was a question. Miliband was re-elected as MP for Doncaster North in 2010, 2015, and again in 2017.
The actress, model and fashion designer was designated a Core Participant Victim by the Inquiry. During the period 2005 to 2006, Miller found herself the victim of intrusive media scrutiny, particularly from the News of the World. She told the Inquiry that information published about her private life had been so precise and accurate that she had accused friends and family of talking to the press about her. Soon after, she learnt from the police that her telephone had been hacked.
Mockridge gave testimony as Chief Executive Officer of News International Group Limited, the role previously held by Rebekah Brooks, and provided information on several newspapers, including The Times and The Sun. Questioned about Rupert Murdoch's views on self-regulation of the press. Told the Inquiry that having only been in the UK a few months (he was previously in New Zealand and Australia) he was of the view that British press freedoms were envied by many around the world.
English journalist for The Sun since 2003, having previously worked as a reporter at Mirror Group Newspapers. O'Shea gave evidence concerning The Sun's coverage in 2011 of the arrest of Christopher Jefferies.
English Solicitor and Head of Reputation Management Practice at Farrer & Co. Advised News International and its forerunners for some 25 years until 2011. He told the Inquiry that he had realised in 2008 that the NI "one rogue reporter" defence was not credible. He confirmed that his firm had not been asked to advise NI on retaining private investigators or on the legality of paying police officers.
A Core Participant Victim, the Harry Potter author challenged news publishers over intrusion into her private life on numerous occasions. Gave evidence of snatched photos of her family and her residence.
A solicitor with wide experience in defamation, privacy and media law, Shear gave evidence as a "core participant", telling the Inquiry that in dealing with the press, particularly the tabloid press, he had seen numerous examples of misconduct in pursuit of stories concerning the private lives of well-known individuals. He gave his opinion that understaffed newsrooms were under pressure to find and feature sensational stories and that tabloid journalists had become more aggressive in their methods. He also gave evidence that he had himself been the subject of surveillance.
A former journalist, Stearns was Head of Media at the Metropolitan Police at the time of the Inquiry. His evidence was volunteered rather than formally sought and he attempted to put in context the work of the press office which dealt with 200-300 journalistic calls a day from the media. Following major incidents, this number could rise to 1,000 or more calls, all requiring individual responses, he told the Inquiry.
Thomson represented Hugh Grant and his partner Tinglan Hong in the phone-hacking and harassment cases against the News of the World. Thomson represented numerous other victims of the phone-hacking scandal who were subsequently awarded damages for media intrusion and invasion of privacy. Told the Inquiry that it was his strong view that the PCC had failed to enforce improved press standards and, significantly, had no power of "prior restraint".
Father of Diane and Alan Watson, who each died in separate, tragic circumstances. A Core Participant Victim, Watson argued that the press coverage of 16-year-old Diane's murder in the playground at school directly contributed to the later suicide of his son Alan. James Watson gave a brief statement to the Inquiry.
