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Tuesday 22 November 2011

Tabloids To Feel Coogan's Wrath At Inquiry

Actor and comedian Steve Coogan has arrived at the High Court ahead of his appearance at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.
He is expected to lay into tabloid editors and reporters as he details intrusions into his personal life by newspapers.
His testimony comes a day after film star Hugh Grant, who has become an outspoken critic of the tabloids, said he suspected his voicemail messages were intercepted by the Mail on Sunday.
Also appearing on Tuesday is Mary-Ellen Field, the former adviser to model Elle Macpherson.
She will be followed by former Premiership footballer Garry Flitcroft and Margaret Watson, whose daughter Diane was stabbed to death at her Glasgow school.
 
Coogan has made no secret of his disdain for the now-defunct News Of The World (NOTW) paper and its parent company News International (NI), and is suing the organisation for hacking his phone.
Last weekend he gave an interview to the Guardian in which he likened Nl to a "protection racket", alleging the group's papers use the threat of press intrusion to "conduct business unencumbered by scrutiny or regulation".
:: Follow live updates from the Sky News team:
In the article, Coogan said: "It's a word in the ear and a life is ruined, this intrusion into people's lives has been the way of things for the past 40 years."
He called it "Rupert Murdoch's toxic legacy".
On Monday the Leveson Inquiry also heard evidence from the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
Her phone was allegedly hacked by the NOTW and messages deleted, leading her mother and father to think she was still alive after she disappeared in 2002.
Sally and Bob Dowler painted a vivid picture of the press intrusion in their lives as police continued the search for their missing daughter.
They told the inquiry panel they privately retraced Milly's steps several weeks after she went missing.
However, a picture of them doing this appeared in the NOTW the following Sunday, something Mrs Dowler described as an "intrusion".
She added the family became fearful of opening the door in case they were confronted by reporters asking questions.
Mr Dowler said he had been waylaid by one journalist "who popped up from behind a bush".
In the most moving evidence so far, Mrs Dowler also told of her elation at being able to get through to Milly's voicemail after she disappeared following a period when the mailbox had been full.
She said: "I rang her phone. It clicked through onto her voicemail, so I heard her voice and it was just like, 'She's picked up her voicemail, Bob, she's alive!'".
It later transpired Milly's phone had been hacked and voicemails deleted. Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking for the NOTW, has denied being responsible for this.
Grant secured an injunction earlier this month preventing the media hounding the mother of his newborn baby, the Chinese actress Tinglan Hong.
At the inquiry, he accused the Mail on Sunday of hacking his phone to obtain a story about his relationship with his girlfriend at the time, Jemima Khan.
The paper later hit back, with a spokesman saying: "Mail on Sunday utterly refutes Hugh Grant's claim that they got any story as a result of phone hacking.
"In fact in the case of the story Mr Grant refers to the information came from a freelance journalist who had been told by a source who was regularly speaking to Jemima Khan.
"Mr Grant's allegations are mendacious smears driven by his hatred of the media."
On Twitter, Ms Khan denied she had any part in the story.
Also due to appear later this week are Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Gerry McCann, the father of missing girl, Madeleine McCann, and actress Sienna Miller.
The witness schedule:
:: Monday November 21
Bob and Sally Dowler, Hugh Grant, Graham Shear (lawyer), Joan Smith (writer, previous relationship with MP Denis MacShane).
:: Tuesday November 22
Steve Coogan, Mary-Ellen Field (supermodel Elle Macpherson's former business adviser), Garry Flitcroft (former Premiership footballer), Margaret Watson (mother of murder victim Diane Watson, stabbed at school).
:: Wednesday November 23
Gerry McCann (father of missing Madeleine), Sheryl Gascoigne (ex-wife of footballer Paul), Tom Rowland (journalist), Mark Lewis (lawyer, represents some phone hacking victims).
:: Thursday November 24
Sienna Miller, Max Mosley, JK Rowling, Mark Thomson (lawyer), HJK (anonymous witness - had a relationship with well-known person).
:: Monday November 28
Charlotte Church, Anne Diamond, Ian Hurst (former British Army intelligence officer), Jane Winter (Northern Ireland human rights campaigner), Chris Jefferies (landlord of murdered Joanna Yeates)

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