Had been a reporter at the Sunday Mirror for 6 years at the time of the Inquiry. Before that, he had been with the Lancashire Evening Post and received a number of awards for undercover work and investigations. In 2009, he was the subject of a "sting" when a documentary film apparently revealed him willing to buy confidential celebrity medical records. Owens told the Inquiry that he did not take the offer very seriously, no documents were obtained and no story was published.
