The admirable Nick Davies, who has been at the forefront of uncovering this story, reveals:
the newspaper employed a freelance private investigator even though he had been accused of corrupting police officers and had just been released from a seven-year prison sentence for blackmail.
The private eye was well known to the News of the World, having worked for the paper for several years before he was jailed, when Coulson was deputy editor. He was rehired when he was freed.
And, he adds, this means we now know of four 'private investigators' who worked for the News of the World who:
have since received or had criminal convictions. All four are known to have used illegal methods to gather information.
As for the News of the World's 'collective amnesia' - as it was described in the MPs' report yesterday - the Guardian has gone through Coulson's testimony to the Select Committee and found that he didn't know or couldn't remember much about anything.
'Nothing to do with me guv, I was only the Editor'.
I truly hope this results in some sort of action or criminal conviction. The Tories must also be sweating slightly having Coulson as such a big part of the cabinet. If he is implicated, imagine the fallout for Cameron.
ReplyDeleteSounds great, don't you think?
Coulson on one side of Cameron, Ashcroft on the other... this is all (hopefully) going to blow up in his face big time come the election campaign.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I just made a reference to Cameron's face without preceding it with the words "big", "punchable" and "balloon".
ReplyDeleteI love Nick Davis' book. (Flat earth news) I'm reading it at the moment, it's fab.
ReplyDeleteWhat a surprise Britain's TV news channel of the year has decided that this story doesn't warrant a mention.
ReplyDeleteI saw Coulson and the other evil men fromn the Screws giving evidence to the CMS Committee....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.peterburden.net/archives/271
'What a surprise Britain's TV news channel of the year has decided that this story doesn't warrant a mention.'
ReplyDeleteBut Crispin, you can't be implying that Murdoch can set the agenda for his various news outlets, because he says he doesn't. He says!