LEVESON INQUIRY:CULTURE, PRACTICE AND ETHICS OF THE PRESS
"I want this inquiry to mean something", not end up as "footnote in some professor of journalism's analysis of 21 century history." LJ Leveson in reply to A Rusbridger's submission to Inquiry. |
| Lord Justice Leveson |
From Guardian:
Here's a quick reminder of the four modules within this first year of the inquiry.
Module 1: The relationship between the press and the public and looks at phone-hacking and other potentially illegal behaviourModule 2: The relationships between the press and police and the extent to which that has operated in the public interest
Module 3: The relationship between press and politiciansModule 4: Recommendations for a more effective policy and regulation that supports the integrity and freedom of the press while encouraging the highest ethical standards.
Witness list for this week (30th January to 2nd February) to be found HERE
Video Recordings of each day's proceedings HERE
Live Feed From Leveson Inquiry Site HERE
BBC Democracy Live Feed HERE
Guardian Live Blog
#Leveson Twitter Feed
Dan Sabbagh (Guardian Journalist) Twitter timeline
Ben Fenton (Journalist FT) live Leveson tweets and comments
Live Blog - Hacking Inquiry - Hacked Off
Hackinginquiry on Twitter (Hacked Off)
- (Guardian also blogging Sun Editor Dominic Mohan appearance at HoC today)
- Recording from Democracy Live Website HERE
#Leveson Twitter Feed
Dan Sabbagh (Guardian Journalist) Twitter timeline
Ben Fenton (Journalist FT) live Leveson tweets and comments
Live Blog - Hacking Inquiry - Hacked Off
Hackinginquiry on Twitter (Hacked Off)
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Today's links to articles, info and comments relevant to the Leveson Inquiry (frequently updated) :
- Police to Investigate Alleged Email Hacking at the Times - Guardian Media
- Sun Journalists Think Murdoch Doesn't Care For Them Any Longer - Guardian Media
- Phone Hacking Inquiry Widens to Times of London - NYT
- Press Gazette Launches Journalism Manifesto For Life After Leveson
- Police to Investigate Rupert Murdoch's Times of London Over Email hacking - Tom Watson MP
- Times Editor Faces Leveson Inquiry Recall Over Nightjack Email Hacking - Guardian Media
- From Guardian Live Blog at the Privacy Committee hearing:
The Sun executives are asked about the breaching of injunctions on Twitter and other social networks.Caseby says that Twitter is a "rival media" to newspapers. Mohan says "we are competing for eyeballs with social media".On the Ryan Giggs injunction, Mohan says he was "very very" aware that many millions of Sun readers probably already knew the person behind the injunction."That ultimately, I would say, could put us out of business," Mohan says.
and:
Lord Hunt is asked about social media.He says he has had a "very good" discussion with Paul Staines of the Guido Fawkes blog. Staines told Hunt that what he writes is "always accurate".Staines "promised to go away and consider" being kitemarked under the new PCC, Hunt says.
- Times Editor Recalled to Leveson Inquiry - Telegraph
- Sun Editor: Judges Don't Have Balanced Right on Privacy - Guardian Media
- Leveson Round-up: A New Compact For the Press? - LSE Media Policy Project
- BBC News - Times 'Investigated For Email Hacking'
- Hollins Details Press Intrusion - the Free Speech Blog
- Phone-hacking: Mobile Networks Took Almost Six Years to Tell Customers - Guardian Media
- Sun and Times Editors Recalled to Leveson Inquiry - Press Gazette
- A Leveson Question For Paul Dacre - George Brock
- How to Reform Press Regulation - With Backing From the State - Roy Greenslade - Guardian Media
- New Statesman - How to Think About Social Media - David Allen Green
- Parliament Launches Inquiry Into Private Investigators - Guardian Media
- NoW Revealed Early Pregnancy of Stabbing Victim, Her Mother Tells Leveson - Hacking Inquiry - Hacked Off
- Memo to Information Commissioner - Reveal All to Blagging Victims - Roy Greenslade - Guardian Media
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Thursday 2nd February 2012
( Link to Hearing Day 35 HERE )
Today's Witnesses:
William Butler ( Security Industry Authority )
Adrian Gorham (O2 )
James Blendis ( Everything Everywhere )
Baroness Hollins
Mark Hughes ( Vodafone )
Tony Imossi ( Association of British Investigators )
David Palmer ( Institute of Professional Investigators )
Tony Smith ( World Association of Professional Investigators )
William (Bill) Butler
Witness Statement in Full
[Barr thought Butler had only just arrived. Turns out he's been sitting in the courtroom all morning.]
Butler has held senior positions at various commissions. The SIA regulates the private security industry, regulates doorstaff, etc.
SIA regulates security guards, those who do close personal protection, CCTV operators, wheel clampers
Butler: Intent, willingness and desire to regulate private investigations has always been there but have failed to do so.
Butler: I would not want to move forward with regulation without the benefit of this inquiry's recommendations.
Butler: There's a willingness to move forward and get PIs into regulation but with the best will in the world, not quickly.
Butler: A new regime would be on licensing businesses rather than individuals.
Guardian Live Blog:
Butler says he has spoken to the information commissioner about custodial sentences for breaches of the Data Protection Act but says he does not have a view one way or the other.He adds: "I have absolutely no desire to regulate journalists."
Leveson replies: "I'm sure you don't. Actually the problem I'm having is finding someone who does."
Butler is asked how the present system of licensing private investigators was influenced by the information commissioner's What Price Privacy? reports and the phone-hacking scandal.He describes the What Price Privacy? reports as "helpful". Hacking and blagging "reinforces our need to get on with this," he tells the inquiry.
Mark Hughes
Adrian Gorham
Witness Statement from O2
Witness Statement from Vodafone
Witness Statement of Everything Everywhere
From Guardian Live Blog: 12.05 p.m.
Our reporter Lisa O'Carroll has just filed this from the Leveson inquiry where O2's Adrian Gorham, Everything Everywhere's James Blendis and Vodafone's Mark Hughes have been giving evidence about pphone hacking:
Mobile phone companies have said they were given two suspect numbers to check against their records that they now understand to belong to the News of the World.
Vodafone said after an internal investigation it discover that 177 unique voicemail boxes were called by these numbers relating to 40 victims.
O2 said its checks showed that 40 victims were phoned by these numbers, while Orange identified 45 victims.
T-Mobile identified 70 victims, some of whose numbers it said belonged to News of the World journalists. The head of legal for the company, James Blendis, said this may have been because someone was trying to test their activities.
"Some of the numbers were journalists at the News of the World so that is likely that there was some trial and error of the process," said Blendis.
It is understood the police asked the mobile phone companies about the suspect numbers in 2006.
T-Mobile did not contact customers until January 2012 after being asked verbally by police not to.
Mark Hughes (Vodafone), Adrian Gorham (O2) and James Blendis (Everything Everywhere) will appear together first
Hughes says he doesn't know why security wasn't enhanced in late 90s after claims made by Steven Nott re voicemail security
Hughes: Changed PIN system when criminality revealed and aware of attack methods. Only customer can see their own PIN.
Blendis: The PIN has never been visible to our customer service agents. Never stored on the system.
Blendis says PIN has never been visible to our customer service agents. Adds security important to us
Gorham: Customers can't use voicemail service without setting unique PIN. Blendis and Hughes: We restrict "guessable" numbers.
All reps say their mobile networks have introduced specific training to deal with blagging techniques.
Hughes: The challenge is getting customers to use these numbers and set PINs that are not easily guessable.
Blendis: Introducing option for customers to switch off remote access so voicemail can't be hacked if they don't use it.
Hughes: Changes in 2006 did not include Vodafone Mail service, put this right in 2010 and alerted the inquiry in January.
Hughes: Checked with Op Weeting whether victims were users of Vodafone Mail. None of them were.
Gorham: The exploitation was news to us until Mulcaire/Goodman. No evidence it was being abused in any way prior to that.
Vodafone rep says tapping mobile calls is possible but v difficult, takes time, equipment & money, and calls encrypted
Hughes: Approx 15 people have access to location data at Vod. Gorham: About 50, inc. police disclosure team and engineers at O2.
Blendis: About 20 people at Orange/T-Mobile have location data access.
All reps say their companies have protection for whistleblowers.
Hughes: Vodafone has had 13 investigations resulting in disciplinary warning or dismissal over data breaches since 2009.
Hughes (Vodafone) says, since 2009, 13 investigations into personal data security breaches led to disciplinary warning or dismissal
Blendis: Records show 4 staff from Orange/T-Mobile dismissed and prosecuted in last five years over breaches.
Gorham (O2) says 54 members of O2 staff disciplined, prosecuted or dismissed over data breaches since 2003
Hughes: 40 phone hacking victims on Vodafone.
Gorham: Just under 40 victims on O2 network.
Blendis says on Orange 45 victims, 71 on T-Mobile
Hughes: Expressly told not to contact victims in case prejudiced police investigation. Informed them in Jan 2012.
O2 customers contacted over hacking during original investigation. Orange/T-Mobile informed in 2011.
Vodafone sent advice on voicemail hacking to people in media and government after Notw convictions
Blendis: Wrote to police in Nov 2010 asking for victim information so we could inform them. No response.
Blendis: Risk we could have tipped off hackers if we'd informed all suspected victims.
Baroness Hollins
Witness Statement in Full
Guardian Live Blog:
Baroness Hollins, mother of stabbing victim Abigail Witchells, has taken the stand.
On 20 April 2005, Abigail, while out walking with her son Joseph, was attacked and stabbed in the neck. She was pregnant at the time.She was found by a neighbour and taken to hospital, but she was paralysed and unable to speak, and remained in intensive care for several weeks, communicating with her family and police by blinking.
Hollins says that the press articles she has submitted to the inquiry are "just the tip of the iceberg".
"The press coverage of my daughter's injury was everywhere every day," she tells the inquiry.
She says that it led news bulletins for a month at the time and there is still press interest in her.
"It was incredibly intrusive," Hollins says.
Hollins at #leveson : journalists were camping in the garden of daughter's house
Hollins: Journalist arrived at mother-in-law's house and wouldn't leave without photo of my daughter. Had to call the police.
Hollins at #leveson : police volunteered to guard her ward to protect her privacy
Hollins at #leveson : in some ways press intrusion was more traumatic than attending to tragic event of her daughter's stabbing
Hollins: we joked there must be bugs in flowers that arrived. Things we spoke about in waiting room would be in papers next day
Hollins: Police were posted to ensure her safety, but then it became about safety from the journalists.
Hollins at #leveson : we were offered up to £300k to sell Abigail's story, weren't interested
From Guardian Live Blog:
Journalists had to be ordered out of the garden of Baroness Hollins' daughter's house following her murder, Baroness Hollins says. The journalists had been camping there and sometimes had to ring the police to get them to back off."We had a big task – there was a child to look after, somebody was critically ill … the police mounted a guard on each door of the hospital ward to guarantee her protection," she says. "It was extraordinarily intrusive."
She says that flowers from journalists would arrive and the family would joke that they must have been bugged.
"We couldn't trust anybody and … it was more traumatic, if you can believe it, than attending to the real traumatic event that had taken place."
Jay brings up NoW 2005 article "Knife mum was pregnant". Hollins said it was very personal and private information.
Hollins at #leveson : Abigail only found out she was pregnant when admitted to hospital after attack - news turned up in paper 4 days later
Hollins says she doesn't know how news of Abigail's pregnancy got into public domain
Hollins: No woman tells the world she's pregnant, when she's five weeks pregnant. That felt very hard.
Guardian Live Blog:
Ben Fenton, the FT's media correspondent, has tweeted:
[a quick check on a database shows a minimum of 1,300 separate articles in UK press since 2005. )
— Ben Fenton (@benfenton)
Next article is from Evening Standard, on death of Hollins' mother in 2005. "I do not know how it got into the public domain".
Hollins at #leveson : press went to Abigail's grandmother's funeral thinking Abigail might be there; was in intensive care at the time
Jay discusses Sun article "House of hope" from 2005. Hollins says it is full of inaccuracies.
Hollins at #leveson : on Sun story re house to be built for Abigail, it's made up, many details wrong, lots of assumptions
[The copy of the article being shown to the inquiry is covered with "no" notes, written by Hollins.]
Hollins talking about a 2005 Mail article linking Abigail's assault with one on her son, a vulnerable adult, a few years earlier.
Hollins at #leveson : now describing "fantasy" in Mail article about her vulnerable son
From Guardian Live Blog:
From Guardian Live Blog:
Robert Jay, counsel to the inquiry, reads from a Sun story, headed "House of hope", about where Abigail was going to live following her release from hospital.
Baroness Hollins says it is full of inaccuracies, and adds she does not know how the Sun obtained the story. "It's made up. It's full of assumptions," she says. "I've no idea where this came from."
Jay reads from a Daily Mail article in November 2005. "There were many many many things in that article that were untrue," she says. However, she says this article was more distressing than others because it allegedly linked Abigail's assault with one on Hollins' son – a vulnerable adult – a few years earlier.
"It's fantasy. But I particularly felt upset because I felt vulnerable for him because he is a vulnerable adult," she says.
Next article is from Sun 2006 about Abigail taking a trip to Lourdes. Hollins says it was a private retreat with family.
Hollins at #leveson : 2009 report that Abigail had regained speech false, she'd regained speech in hospital in 2005
Hollins at #leveson : worried what Abigail's children will see on the internet of this coverage in years to come
Hollins at #leveson : journos with copies of D Mail in their cars staked out Abigail's house on a rota
Hollins says one journalist was asked to leave Abigail's son's sports day at school
Hollins at #leveson : Jay suggests this was a Daily Mail photographer; Hollins says PCC didn't act saying they needed journo's name
Jay has been asked if it is right photographer was 200-300 yards away in his car. Hollins said less. No more than 100 yards.
PCC told Hollins they couldn't act without knowing the photographers' name
Hollins at #leveson : Mail on Sunday reneged on promise to use just 1 photo, and to print it further back when reprinting article by Hollins
Guardian Live Blog:
Hollins says the Daily Mail once called to ask whether they could reprint an article she had written for a small weekly journal towards the back of the newspaper.Essentially the Mail said it would publish it anyway and wanted a picture to go with it, she says. Hollins sent a photograph but was told it was too grainy so she sent another.
The Mail eventually published the story on its front page.
"To make it worse the article they got which must have been leaked somehow was actually the first draft which I'd changed quite a bit," she says.
Hollins: to find the time and energy to pursue a complaint when we were dealing with new experiences didn't seem fruitful
Hollins: PCC wanted detail of specific incident but our distress was caused by hundreds. It was about whole culture of the press.
Hollins: we were not in any way seeking publicity, we were dealing with something v difficult
Hollins at #leveson : intrusion had no sensitivity to fact we were not seeking publicity
Hollins at #leveson : press coverage caused quite a division in the family, a lot of emotion by this public exposure
Hollins at #leveson : considered resigning her job because press interest in her daughter meant she couldn't represent her profession
Hollins: My daughter was not a celebrity and we were dealing with something that was very difficult for everybody.
Hollins at #leveson : if you're protecting your sources in order to cover up you haven't got a source that's not good enough
Hollins: If you're presenting inaccuracies then somebody should be able to get a clarification or an apology.
There is a responsibility to tell the truth and make sure your facts are right. If you lift, you should quote your source.
Hollins: how do you behave when someone misquotes you? We didn't know, we had to learn. Our priorities were elsewhere
Caplan apologises again to Hollins on behalf of Mail on Sunday for reusing a photograph she had given them for solo use.
Tony Imossi
Witness Statement #1 in Full
Witness Statement #2 in Full
The ABI has approximately 500 members, 450 UK-based.
ABI has five regional branches and is funded by annual subscriptions from members.
Private investigators seeking Royal charter for their industry body says Imossi
PI org chief Imossi says he "took it upon myself" to track down Derek Webb, Notw det, says Webb wasn't licensed as Webb claimed
Imossi: PIs told position of trust and confidentiality and responsibility to the inside knowledge we gain from our activities.
Imossi: In 2009 granted provisional membership to man who were later informed by police was convicted sex offender. Lied on form.
Imossi: Would like to exercise standard CRB check under law, this would happen if industry regulated under statute.
Imossi: Change of culture requiring insurance but part of move to professionalise industry and show public we are the good guys.
Imossi: ICO What Price Privacy report was a shock and awe document to expose the extent of the problem.
Imossi: can't for the life of me think why investigator would take such a risk by intercepting voicemail
Imossi: we're sensitive to not encouraging intrusive methods
Imossi: I think hacking and blagging is an ongoing issue. I certainly wasn't aware hacking was being used at the time.
Imossi: Mobile telephone interception was being used as a norm tool of first resort.
Imossi: Online services offered are interception of emails and interrogation of computers. #Leveson: Please provide us wil URLs later.
Imossi: I'm surprised it hasn't really hit the media as it should have done (Illegal services offered online).
Imossi: We want to launch an ABI academy providing accredited training. SIA have approved it.
Imossi: We saw ICO's view on s55 breaches as a threat to regulating the industry and thought document encouraged illegality.
Barr points out when ABI introduced CRB checks, five percent failed to renew and 18 members were expelled for not producing one.
David Palmer
David Palmer Institute of Professional Investigators and serving police officer now giving evidence at #leveson
Palmer is a serving police officer at Heddlu Gwent force. He works in the Financial Crime Unit.
Palmer: One appeal against finding of culpability, one member used surveillance footage on local TV and client complained.
Palmer: I conducted a check today, Derek Webb has not been an IPI member for 3-5 years.Imossi showed me his certificate dated 2005.
Palmer: identifying a qualification that fits generic membership level is difficult
Palmer: Some of our members are not PIs as public would understand it. We have a forensic tax accountant.
Palmer says when phone hacking scandal emerged he was fairly neutral. Not altogether surprising that sort of thing happened
Palmer: The fact people are out there conducting unlawful activities in the name of private investigators isn't a surprise to me.
Palmer: we've recently introduced CRB requirements
Palmer: years ago there was an "everybody knew everybody" environment in the industry
Palmer: We ask for 2 refs, CRB check, sometimes interview. People used to know each other in industry but we rely on documents now.
Palmer: Our preference would be for licencing by a regulatory authority, like the SIA.
Current witness has just criticised criminal sentencing. #leveson is chair of the Sentencing Council. This is a bold strategy.
Tony Smith
Smith is standing in for Ian Withers of WAPI.
Tony Smith of WIPA : We threw out a member but - that company still trades, complains he has no teeth
Smith says he was amazed at extent of phone hacking scandal but adds "we all knew it was going on"
Smith: Media use PIs for locating people, untangling company groups and obtaining info on individuals.
