Details of how the police discovered highly personal messages between David Blunkett and Kimberley Quinn in a News International lawyer’s safe were revealed at the hacking trial today.
A report by Martin Hickman on the Hacked Off website also shows how Andy Coulson faced up David Blunkett – knowing possibly they had hacked phones of close colleagues – and was happy to intrude into Blunkett’s private life.
He reports: Transcripts of “deeply personal and intrusive” messages between Labour politician David Blunkett and his lover Kimberly Quinn were found in a safe at Britain’s biggest newspaper group, the hacking trial heard today.
Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC, told the jury that a series of mobile phone messages left for the publisher by the then Home Secretary were recovered from News International lawyer Tom Crone’s safe.”
…”Mr Blunkett had left voicemails on Mrs Quinn’s mobile phone in July 2004, in the weeks before the News of the World revealed the relationship in a front-page splash. A “draft” story about the affair, in which the writer chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck had used the children’s character’s Noddy and Big Ears in place of Mr Blunkett and Mrs Quinn, was also discovered in Mr Crone’s safe.”
Later Coulson faced up Blunkett.
Martin Hickman reports: “The court was later played a tape of a 20-minute meeting between Mr Coulson and Mr Blunkett on 13 August 2004 in which the journalist asked the politician to confirm the affair.

During the meeting, which took place two days before the story was published and which Mr Blunkett recorded, Mr Blunkett maintained that his private life should stay private. He asked Mr Coulson: “You’re asking me to say I’ve had a relationship with a married woman?”

Mr Coulson responded: “I want nothing more.”

One can only admire the audacity of a man putting down a Labour Cabinet minister in the very year he ended a six year clandestine relationship with Rebekah Brooks ( then Wade). The real salacious story seems to be their relationship which of course was not to be published. Obviously not in the public interest. Luckily for them nobody tapped their phones.