Journalist, media consultant and, at time of Inquiry, editor of the Manchester Evening News, on whose behalf she gave evidence.
Managing Editor of The Sun at the time of the Inquiry, gave a number of witness statements to the Inquiry on subjects ranging from an alleged prank to mark Charlotte Church's 16th birthday to the paper's coverage of the war in Afghanistan. In 2014, he left News International after 24 years to take up an appointment as Director of Communications for the Department of Work and Pensions.
Legal consultant at Yahoo! at the time of the Inquiry, where his work involved a wide range of issues, such as audience, content, product compliance and litigation. Giving evidence on behalf of the web services provider, he described how its search engine worked and the processes of removing material with or without a court order.
Group Managing Editor of the Belfast Telegraph at time of Inquiry and until 2014. Journalist and Media Consultant. Connolly's career has covered many aspects of print and digital news-gathering from reporting to senior management. Gave evidence on the ethical standards of the company. Said that private investigators were not used by the Belfast Telegraph or Community Telegraph though small payments had been made by Sunday Life to a private investigating agency.
Group general counsel and company secretary of the BBC and, at the time of the Inquiry, the BBC's most senior lawyer.
Former British civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary for Tax at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) until July 2012. Following his retirement, Hartnett advised HSBC on financial crime governance and was appointed as a consultant to the tax firm Deloitte. Gave evidence to the Inquiry on breaches of data-protection law within the Information Commissioners Office and the persistent efforts he witnessed of bogus callers trying to obtain personal details of taxpayers.
Public relations consultant at time of giving evidence and a former editor of The Sun newspaper, which he left in 1998. Higgins had worked for The Sun from 1979 as their West Country reporter and acquired notoriety when he was arrested in 1982 after being found with a Sun photographer "testing security" at Highgrove House, the home of the Prince of Wales. In 1994, he became editor of the paper, quickly winning Scoop of the Year awards for a story about the Queen ordering the then Princess of Wales and the Prince of Wales to divorce.
Independent consultant to the police, local authorities, faith groups and private organisations and, at the time of the Inquiry, Public Relations Officer of the Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) Leicestershire. Expressed concern that the Inquiry had at that time not fully addressed the negative representation of Muslims in the media. He referred to a report from Lancaster University on the adverse effects of irresponsible and prejudiced reporting in the period 1998-2009.
Founder of Polaris Media, an independent communications consultancy, and a former BBC, News of the World and Sunday Times journalist. Gave a scathing assessment of the contemptuous attitude of most of the press and lamented the inadequacy of the PCC in moderating it.
International solicitors specialising in advising claimants in the area of reputational law. Offered views on the rights of freedom of speech and the need for that to be balanced against the rights of individuals to protect their reputations. Suggested that a court should be able to prevent publication of false claims and that any regulatory body should be accessible to all and be seen to be fair.
Former journalist and editor of The Sun from 1998 to 2002. Yelland left the industry in 2003 to attend Harvard Business School and take up a career in business consultancy and as a writer of children's fiction. Gave evidence to the Inquiry of the principles in operation at the time of his editorship. Told the Inquiry that although it lost some PCC rulings in his time, the paper complied with requests from the PCC.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HM Revenue and Customs or HMRC) is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support and the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage.
