Phone Hacking Trial: Tony Blair and Piers Morgan sent supportive messages to Brooks over Dowler story – Martin Hickman

Rebekah Brooks friends revealed.

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Brooks and MorganDay 62, Part 1:  Rebekah Brooks received messages of support from politicians and journalists, and death threats from the public, in the days after the Milly Dowler story broke, the phone hacking trial heard today.

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Phone Hacking Trial: ‘Toxic’ NOTW closure mooted month before Guardian’s Milly Dowler revelations – Martin Hickman

So The Guardian cannot be blamed for closing the News of the World over Milly Dowler. There already was plan to close it as part of the move to take over BSkyB.Interesting admission.

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News-of-the-World-006 Day 61, Part 2:  Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group considered closing the News of the World a month before the Guardian disclosed it had targeted missing girl Milly Dowler, the phone hacking trial heard today.

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Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks knew ‘rogue reporter’ hacking defence was shaky, Old Bailey hears – Martin Hickman

So Rebekah Brooks did know 18 months before it became public that Clive Goodman was no rogue reporter and was prepared to offer a deal to Max Clifford to save News International’s reputation.

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Rebekah Brooks at the Old Bailey in March Day 61, Part 1:  News International’s chief executive Rebekah Brooks knew that the company’s lone “rogue reporter” defence against phone hacking was “shaky” a year and a half before it changed its public position, the Old Bailey heard today.

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Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks on legitimate Sun Stories and turning down MPs’ Expenses – Martin Hickman

Rebekah Brooks: Turning Down MPs expenses story ” pretty high error of judgement”, while Cabinet minister Charles Clarke responsible for another leak, she claims Scotland Yard told her!

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sun-getccccty Day 60:  Stories for which the Sun paid a civil servant thousands of pounds could have come from a variety of legitimate sources rather than a public official, the paper’s former editor Rebekah Brooks said today.

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Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks approved payments to public officials for stories, court hears – Martin Hickman

So Rebekah Brooks admits paying out cash to public officials without knowing who they were – and that her treatment of Clare Short, a former labour Cabinet minister, over her page three campaigns was ” cruel and harsh”.

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Rebekah and Charlie Brooks Day 59: One of Rupert Murdoch’s most senior executives told a court today that she authorised payments to public officials in return for information for stories in his British newspapers.

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Police close to charges in Tom Watson’s VIP paedophile ring allegations

The Met Police are close to charging people in the investigation sparked off by Tom Watson’s claims of a paedophile ring at the time of the Thatcher government.

A report in Exaro News reveals that after interviewing and contacting some 100 people police are confident  that they have a number of high profile witnesses -including an Anglican bishop, a pre eminent businessman and a well known journalist – who have given statements alleging sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse.

 The victims have come forward under Operation Cayacos – a spin-off from the original scoping study, Operation Fairbank – which has now been going on for over 18 months.

Watson alleged in Parliament that a network run by Peter Righton, the notorious paedophile, reached into the top levels of British politics. The MP raised the issue in prime minister’s questions soon after the exposure of Jimmy Savile, the late BBC star, as a paedophile.

The late Righton – at one time regarded as a leading specialist in child protection – was a founder of the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE), which promoted sex with children. The organisation has recently been in the centre of a furious row after the Daily Mail published a series of  stories showing that it was affiliated to the National Council for Civil Liberties during a period when Labour’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman, was its legal adviser.  Harman has accused the Daily Mail of smears.

Patricia Hewitt, a former Labour Cabinet minister was  general secretary of the NCCL and according to The Guardian was involved in discussions  with PIE over lowering the age of consent for sexual activity.

According to the witness, Righton boasted of links to powerful figures in government.

When police raided Righton’s house in Evesham, Worcestershire in 1992, they found hard-core images of child abuse from Amsterdam and a “quarter-century of correspondence” between paedophiles in Britain and around the world. But police failed to follow-up the leads at the time, prompting allegations by Watson 16 months ago of an ‘establishment’ cover-up.

  The move suggests that the police have made  more progress in this investigation than in Operation Fernbridge – which has led to two people facing trial at Southwark Crown Court in May.

 

Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks offered Goodman a job to stop further NOTW hacking allegations – Martin Hickman

Rebekah Brooks admits she offered ex Royal correspondent and hacker Clive Goodman a job back at the Sun to prevent him going to an industrial tribunal and disclosing that he believed phone hacking was rife at News International. Interesting!

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Clive Goodman Day 58, Part 2:  Rebekah Brooks offered a phone hacker a job after he came out of prison to stop him alleging widespread hacking at the News of the World, she told the phone hacking trial today.

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Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks: The Sun didn’t rely on phone hacking to ID Blunkett’s lover – Martin Hickman

Another phone hacking denial from Rebekah Brooks- this over Blunkett’s affair

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BlunkettDay 58:   The Sun did not rely on phone hacking to establish the identity of Home Secretary David Blunkett’s lover, the Old Bailey heard today.

Kimberly Quinn was named by the redtop as being Mr Blunkett’s partner on Monday 16 April 2004, the day after its Sunday sister the News of the World broke the news of the affair between the Labour politician and the married woman.

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Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks denies ordering NOTW execs to remove Dowler voicemail reference – Martin Hickman

Second denial re Milly Dowler story from Rebekah Brooks

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Dowler and NoWDay 57, Part 2:   Rebekah Brooks today denied ordering newspaper executives to remove a reference to a hacked voicemail from a story about Milly Dowler.

The News of the World changed a story on 13 April 2002 about a voicemail left for the missing 13-year-old after police questioned its veracity.

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Phone Hacking Trial: Brooks denies any involvement in hacking Milly Dowler’s phone – Martin Hickman

Rebekah Brooks defence: I learned about the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone from The Guardian. Fascinating.

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Rebekah BrooksDay 57, Part 1:   Rebekah Brooks today denied any involvement in the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone. Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Mrs Brooks said she had not known that the schoolgirl’s voicemail had been intercepted days after her disappearance in 2002.

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