Wednesday 2 February 2011

Peston: 'Evening Standard journalist was taped being told how to hack phones by Mulcaire'


Robert Peston claims on his BBC blog that an Evening Standard journalist can be heard on a tape recording, obtained by the New York Times, being told by the private detective Glenn Mulcaire how to hack into the mobile phone of Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association.

Peston says at the time of the recording the Evening Standard was owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. He adds: "So to state the blooming obvious, the tape recording suggests that journalists outside of the News of the World and News International - which has so far been the focus of police investigations into hacking - were taking an interest in hacking.

"Needless to say, the tape recording does not prove that the journalist actually hacked Gordon Taylor's phone. And for what it's worth, the journalist when interviewed by his current employer - which, as chance would have it, is News International - denied wrongdoing.

"In 2009, the journalist moved to The Times, which is owned by News International."

  • The tape was seized by police from Mulcaire and can be heard on the NY Times site.

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