Annex 2: Timeline of events
We have constructed a timeline of events from the
evidence given to us. It is printed below and is intended to serve
as a rapid point of reference. Commentary on the events outlined
here forms the body of the Report.
- May 2000
Rebekah Brooks (then Wade) became Editor of the News of the
World.
- March 2002 Teenager
Milly Dowler went missing and was later found murdered.
- January 2003 Rebekah
Brooks became Editor of the Sun and Andy Coulson took over
editorship of the News of the World.
- March 2003 Rebekah
Brooks, Andy Coulson, Tom Crone and Stuart Kuttner gave evidence
to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. In evidence Rebekah
Brooks said that the News of the World paid police officers.[362]
- February 2005 Glenn
Mulcaire, using the pseudonym Paul Williams, and Greg Miskiw,
then Assistant News Editor of the News of the World, signed
a contract agreeing to pay Glenn Mulcaire £7,000 on publication
of a story based on information about Gordon Taylor provided by
Glenn Mulcaire.[363]
- June 2005 Ross Hindley
sent an e-mail to Glenn Mulcaire which opened with the words "This
is the transcript for Neville". "Neville" was later
assumed to be Neville Thurlbeck, Chief Reporter at the News
of the World.[364]
- July 2005 Neville
Thurlbeck knocked on a door in north west England in order to
get his comments on a story.[365]
- August 2006 Glenn
Mulcaire and Clive Goodman were arrested on suspicion of illegally
intercepting voicemail messages.
- November 2006 The
time Tom Crone said that he became aware that Clive Goodman was
guilty: "I think it was before he pleaded guilty, probably
in November before the hearing".[366]
- 29 November 2006 Clive
Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire pleaded guilty.
- 6 December 2006 Clive
Goodman was paid the first of three monthly salary payments, made
after the date of his guilty plea. The three payments totalled
£22,504.71.[367]
- 26 January 2007 Clive
Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire were convicted and jailed for hacking
the phones of three members of the royal household; Glenn Mulcaire
was also convicted of hacking into the voicemails of Max Clifford,
Sky Andrew, Elle McPherson, Simon Hughes MP and Gordon Taylor.
They were sentenced to 4 months' and 6 months' imprisonment respectively.
Andy Coulson resigned from the News of the World; and Colin
Myler became Editor.
- 5 February 2007 Les
Hinton wrote to Clive Goodman terminating his employment with
News Group Newspapers and offering him 12 months' base salary.[368]
- 6 February 2007 Clive
Goodman was paid his last monthly salary. The payment was authorised
by Stuart Kuttner, Managing Editor of the News of the World.[369]
- 8 February 2007 Clive
Goodman was paid a year's salary (£90,502.08) according to
the terms of his dismissal.[370]
- 2 March 2007 Clive
Goodman wrote to Daniel Cloke appealing his dismissal and making
allegations about phone-hacking at the News of the World.[371]
- 6 March 2007 Executive
Chairman of News International, Les Hinton, gave evidence to the
Culture, Media and Sport Committee and maintained that Clive Goodman
acted alone.[372]
- 3 May 2007 Tom Crone
went to Manchester to meet Mark Lewis of George Davies LLP (representing
Gordon Taylor) to discuss the Gordon Taylor settlement. Their
accounts of the meeting differ in several particulars.[373]
- 29 May 2007 The Press
Complaints Commission published a report on phone-hacking which
said that there was no evidence of systematic wrong-doing at the
News of the World.[374]
Law firm Harbottle & Lewis wrote to News International saying
that they had reviewed internal e-mails taken from the accounts
of News International employees and found no evidence to support
the specific assertions made by Clive Goodman in the letter appealing
his dismissal.[375]
- JulyOctober 2007 Clive
Goodman was paid £153,000 in settlement of his employment
claim.[376]
- 1 November 2007 In
response to requests made to the Metropolitan Police, Farrer &
Co (News International's solicitors) and George Davies (Gordon
Taylor's solicitors) were made aware of the existence of the 'for
Neville' e-mail, although they were not given a copy at that stage.
Tom Crone was also informed.[377]
- 7 December 2007 Les
Hinton ceased to be Executive Chairman of News International and
was appointed Chief Executive of Dow Jones, which had recently
been acquired by News Corporation.
- April 2008 Farrer
& Co and George Davies saw the 'for Neville' e-mail. Tom Crone
was again also informed.[378]
- 24 May 2008 Julian
Pike, Partner at Farrer & Co, acting for News International,
was copied in on an e-mail disclosing a briefing that Tom Crone
had provided for Colin Myler to use in a meeting with James Murdoch,
due to take place on 27 May 2008. Tom Crone said that, unknown
to News International, Gordon Taylor's legal team had obtained
prosecution paperwork from Glenn Mulcaire's trial including the
'for Neville' e-mail. Tom Crone described the 'for Neville' e-mail
as "genuine" and "fatal" to News International's
defence case.[379]
- 27 May 2008 Colin
Myler met James Murdoch, or telephoned him, to discuss the Gordon
Taylor settlement and possibly the 'for Neville' e-mail, although
this is disputed. Colin Myler called Julian Pike afterwards to
discuss the meeting.[380]
Neither Colin Myler nor James Murdoch has any recollection of
the conversation.
- 3 June 2008 The opinion
of external counsel, Michael Silverleaf QC, on the level of damages
that could be awarded to Gordon Taylor, arrived with Farrer &
Co and News International. On that date, Farrer & Co was instructed
to increase the Part 36 offer to Gordon Taylor to £350,000.[381]
- 7 June 2008 Colin
Myler e-mailed James Murdoch with an "update on the Gordon
Taylor (Professional Football Association) case", stating
that "unfortunately it is as bad as we feared". James
Murdoch responded to the e-mail within three minutes of receiving
it.[382]
- 10 June 2008 Tom Crone
and Colin Myler met James Murdoch to discuss the Gordon Taylor
settlement, including the 'for Neville' e-mail, although James
Murdoch has told the Committee that he did not see the e-mail
at that stage. Tom Crone had a phone conversation with Julian
Pike after the meeting in which he told Pike that James Murdoch
wanted to "think through the options".[383]
- 12 November 2008 Tom
Crone took Mark Lewis for lunch in El Vino's wine bar.[384]
- 8 July 2009 The Guardian
published a series of articles alleging that payments in excess
of £1 million were made to Gordon Taylorand two other
people involved in footballto settle legal cases that would
have named other journalists involved in phone-hacking. The News
of the World denied the allegations. Acting Deputy Commissioner
Yates said that no further investigation was required.[385]
- 11 July 2009 Tom Crone
allegedly told Neville Thurlbeck that he would be asked to resign
as a result of the 'for Neville' e-mail. Thurlbeck met with Tom
Crone and Colin Myler for approximately an hour. At the meeting
he says he supplied them with evidence linking the Gordon Taylor
story (and associated phone-hacking) with a "news desk executive".[386]
- 14 July 2009 The Committee
wrote to Rebekah Brooks asking that she and Neville Thurlbeck
give evidence on 21 July. The Committee took evidence from Guardian
journalist Nick Davies who wrote the articles containing the
allegations; he showed the Committee copies of the Glenn Mulcaire/Miskiw
contract and the 'for Neville' e-mail.[387]
- 15 July 2009 Neville
Thurlbeck says he provided Tom Crone and Colin Myler with written
evidence following his meeting of 11 July 2009. He did not lose
his job.[388]
- 17 July 2009 Rebekah
Brooks wrote to the Chairman saying that she was unavailable to
give evidence on 21 July; that this was not a "delaying tactic";
and that she would attend when it was "mutually convenient"
to do so.
- 19 July 2009 Neville
Thurlbeck says he called Ross Hall and taped the conversation.
Thurlbeck has recently told the Committee that the call exonerated
him and implicated an unnamed "news desk executive".
He says he offered the tape to Tom Crone who allegedly said that
he did not want it.[389]
- 21 July 2009 Tom Crone,
Colin Myler, Andy Coulson and Stuart Kuttner gave evidence to
the Culture, Media and Sport Committee; they maintained that no
one knew about phone-hacking apart from Clive Goodman.[390]
- 1 September 2009 Rebekah
Brooks was made Chief Executive of News International.
- 2 September 2009 Christopher
Graham, the Information Commissioner, and John Yates, then Assistant
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, gave evidence to the
Committee. John Yates said the Committee that the police had not
questioned Neville Thurlbeck in its original investigation because
there was no proof that he was the Neville referred to in the
e-mail.[391]
- 15 September 2009 Les
Hinton gave evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee
and maintained that no one at the News of the World knew
about phone-hacking apart from Clive Goodman.[392]
- 10 December 2009 The
Committee wrote to Rebekah Brooks asking her to give evidence
and offering her a number of dates in January 2010 to do so.
- 14 December 2009 Rebekah
Brooks wrote to the Chairman saying that she was unavailable on
all of the suggested dates and asking what the Committee would
like to ask her.
- 15 December 2009 The
Committee wrote to Rebekah Brooks outlining the broad areas on
which it wanted to ask her questions.[393]
- 4 January 2010 Rebekah
Brooks wrote to the Chairman saying that she did not see how her
appearance before the Committee "can or will assist it in
any way" and declined to give evidence.[394]
- FebruaryApril 2010 Clive
Goodman received payment of £9,631.50 in legal fees from
News Group Newspapers Limited. Evidence suggests that this may
have been in connection with the inquiry by this Committee.[395]
- 24 February 2010 The
Culture, Media and Sport Committee published its Report Press
standards, privacy and libel, concluding that it was "inconceivable"
that no-one other than Clive Goodman knew about phone-hacking.[396]
- February 2010 News
Group Newspapers Limited settled a legal action with Max Clifford.
- 1 September 2010 A
New York Times article quoted an ex-News of the World
reporter, Sean Hoare, who said that phone-hacking was encouraged
at the paper.[397]
- 6 September 2010 Acting
Deputy Commissioner John Yates said that the Metropolitan Police
would be re-opening the investigation into phone-hacking at the
News of the World.[398]
- 5 January 2011 News
of the World suspended its Assistant Editor,
Ian Edmondson.
- 15 January 2011 The
Crown Prosecution Service announced a review of the evidence collected
in the Metropolitan Police's original investigation of phone-hacking
at the News of the World. The announcement was made after
News International had tasked Group General Manager Will Lewis
with re-examining all the documents held by Harbottle & Lewis,
a firm of solicitors thatin 2007had conducted an
independent review of those documents in the context of an unfair
dismissal claim being brought by Clive Goodman, the News of
the World's former Royal Editor, against the company. Mr Lewis
had passed the material to a different firm of solicitors, Hickman
Rose, who in turn had referred it to Lord Macdonald of River Glaven,
a former Director of Public Prosecutions, for an opinion. On the
basis of his opinion, it was decided to refer the matter immediately
to the police.
- 26 January 2011 The
Metropolitan Police announced the re-opening of its investigation
into phone-hacking.
- 25 February 2011 Legal
actions against the News of the World, brought by actor
Steve Coogan and sports commentator Andy Gray, led to Glenn Mulcaire
being ordered by the High Court to reveal who commissioned him
to carry out his work.
- 10 March 2011 Chris
Bryant MP led an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on
phone-hacking in which he said that, during the original investigation
into Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire in 2006-07, Acting Deputy
Commissioner John Yates was warned by the Crown Prosecution Service
(CPS) that the Metropolitan Police had wrongly interpreted the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).[399]
- 14 March 2011 Acting
Deputy Commissioner John Yates wrote to the Chairman saying that
he was concerned that the reputation of the Metropolitan Police,
as well as his own, was being damaged by the "unfounded allegations"
made during the Commons debate on 10 March and offering to appear
before the Committee to give oral evidence.[400]
- 24 March 2011 Acting
Deputy Commissioner John Yates wrote to the Chairman explaining
in more detail how he had interpreted RIPA in the 2006-07 investigation
and the advice he had received from the CPS.[401]
John Yates gave evidence to the Committee.
- 1 April 2011 The Director
of Public Prosecutions wrote to the Chairman giving his account
of the advice given by the CPS to the Metropolitan Police in 2006-07.
His account differed from that of John Yates.[402]
- 5 April 2011 Ian Edmondson
and Neville Thurlbeck were arrested on suspicion of unlawfully
intercepting voicemail messages.
- 8 April 2011 News
International apologised to eight phone-hacking victims and announced
that it was setting up a compensation fund.
- 14 April 2011 News
of the World journalist James Weatherup
was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting voicemail
messages.
- 4 May 2011 The Committee
wrote to Rebekah Brooks asking her to review the evidence given
to the Committee by News International in 2009 and offering her
the opportunity to give evidence.
- 31 May 2011 Rebekah
Brooks wrote to the Chairman stating that it would not be appropriate
to respond to the Committee's request in the context of the ongoing
police investigation.[403]
- 7 June 2011 Actress
Sienna Miller accepted a £100,000 settlement from the
News of the World.
- 4 July 2011 The Guardian
revealed that the police had contacted the family of Milly Dowler
to tell them that her phone had been hacked after her disappearance
in 2002.[404] Rebekah
Brooks, who was News of the World Editor in 2002, was reported
to have said that it was "inconceivable" that she knew
about it.[405]
- 7 July 2011 In a News
Corporation press statement, James Murdoch announced the closure
of the News of the World and said that "the paper
made statements to Parliament without being in the full possession
of the facts. This was wrong".[406]
- 8 July 2011 Andy Coulson
was arrested and questioned by police about phone-hacking and
the payment of police officers. Clive Goodman was also arrested
and questioned about payments to police. The Prime Minister announced
that there would be a public inquiry into phone-hacking at the
News of the World.
- 10 July 2011 The last
edition of the News of the World was printed.
- 11 July 2011 The Secretary
of State for Culture, Media, Olympics and Sport referred News
Corporation's bid to take over BSkyB to the Competition Commission.[407]
- 12 July 2011 This
Committee reopened its inquiry and the Home Affairs Committee
took evidence from current and former officers in the Metropolitan
Police Service; former Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said
that police faced "hostility and obstruction" when they
first investigated phone-hacking at the News of the World
in 2006.[408]
- 13 July 2011 The Prime
Minister announced a public inquiry that would be judge-led and
published its terms of reference; he also announced a second inquiry
into press standards and regulation.[409]
News Corporation withdrew its bid for BSkyB.[410]
Legal Manager Tom Crone left News International.
- 14 July 2011 Former
News of the World Executive Editor Neil Wallis was arrested.
Rebekah Brooks agreed to give evidence to the Culture, Media
and Sport Committee.[411]
James and Rupert Murdoch were summoned to do so, and subsequently
agreed to attend.[412]
- 15 July 2011 Rebekah
Brooks resigned as Chief Executive of News International; a few
hours later Les Hinton resigned as Chief Executive of Dow Jones.
Rupert Murdoch apologised to the Dowler family.[413]
- 16 July 2011 Many
British newspapers carried a full apology from Rupert Murdoch.[414]
- 17 July 2011 Rebekah
Brooks was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications
and on suspicion of corruption. Sir Paul Stephenson resigned as
Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.[415]
- 19 July 2011 Rupert
Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks gave evidence to the
Committee.[416]
- 21 July 2011 Colin
Myler and Tom Crone issued a statement to the press in which they
disputed James Murdoch's claim that he was unaware of the 'for
Neville' e-mail at the time of the payout to Gordon Taylor.[417]
- 22 July 2011 James
Murdoch made a statement in which he stood by his oral evidence
to the Committee.[418]
- 28 July 2011 It was
reported in the press that Sara Payne had been told that there
was a possibility that her voicemail had been illegally accessed.[419]
- 29 July 2011 The Committee
published written evidence from Harbottle and Lewis, James Murdoch,
Jonathan Chapman and correspondence between Trinity Mirror and
Louise Mensch.[420]
It wrote seeking further evidence from James Murdoch, Rebekah
Brooks, Tom Crone, Colin Myler, Jonathan Chapman and Harbottle
& Lewis.[421]
- 16 August 2011 The
Committee published written evidence from James Murdoch, Rebekah
Brooks, Jonathan Chapman, Colin Myler, Tom Crone, Harbottle &
Lewis, the Press Complaints Commission, Mark Lewis (Taylor Hampton)
and John Turnbull (Linklaters).[422]
It wrote seeking further evidence from Stuart Kuttner, Les Hinton,
Julian Pike (Farrer & Co), Burton Copeland, Andy Coulson,
Daniel Cloke, Rebekah Brooks and Lawrence Abramson (Harbottle
& Lewis).[423]
It agreed that it would invite Daniel Cloke, Jonathan Chapman,
Colin Myler and Tom Crone to give evidence on 6 September.
- 22 August 2011 Robert
Peston (BBC) broke a story in which he claimed that Andy Coulson
had continued to be paid by News International several months
after his contract there had ended and at the same time that he
had been employed by the Conservative Party.[424]
This appeared to contradict evidence given by Andy Coulson on
21 July 2009 and by James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks on 19 July
2011.[425]
- 26 August 2011 The
Guardian revealed that, under the terms of a court order,
Glenn Mulcaire had disclosed to Steve Coogan's lawyers the names
of the individuals at News International who had instructed him
to carry out phone-hacking. The lawyers were unable to publish
those names for confidentiality reasons.[426]
- 6 September 2011 Daniel
Cloke, Jonathan Chapman, Colin Myler and Tom Crone gave oral evidence
to the Committee.[427]
The Committee published written evidence from Daniel Cloke, Stuart
Kuttner, Farrer & Co, Lawrence Abramson, BCL Burton Copeland,
Les Hinton, Andy Coulson, Linklaters, Rebekah Brooks and Saunders
Law.[428]
- 13 September 2011
The Committee published written evidence from Rebekah Brooks and
Linklaters.[429] It
invited Les Hinton, Farrer & Co and Mark Lewis (Taylor Hampton)
to give oral evidence.
- 19 October 2011 Julian
Pike of Farrer & Co and Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton gave
oral evidence. Julian Pike's account suggested that James Murdoch
may have been briefed about the 'for Neville' e-mail before the
meeting of 10 June 2008.[430]
The Committee published further written evidence from James Murdoch.[431]
- 24 October 2011 Les
Hinton gave oral evidence by video link from New York.
- 1 November 2011 The
Committee published further written evidence from Colin Myler,
Michael Silverleaf QC, Farrer & Co and Mark Lewis.[432]
- 8 November 2011 The
Committee published further written evidence from Tom Crone.[433]
- 10 November 2011 James
Murdoch gave further oral evidence.
- 14 November 2011 Roy
Greenslade, a media commentator, claimed that members of the Culture,
Media and Sport Select Committee were put under surveillance by
the News of the World for a period of between three and
ten days in 2009.[434]
- 16 November 2011 Neville
Thurlbeck published his account of the phone-hacking scandal at
the News of the World and, in doing so, protested his innocence.[435]
- 7 December 2011 The
Committee published written evidence from Colin Myler, Neville
Thurlbeck, James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and Tom Crone.
- 13 December 2011 The
Committee published written evidence from James Murdoch and the
News Corporation Management and Standards Committee.
- 14 December 2011 The
Committee published written evidence from Tom Crone.
- Events during 2012 are described
in the latter part of Chapter 4 of this Report.
362 Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Fifth Report
of Session 2002-03, Privacy and media intrusion, HC458-II,
Ev 112 Back
363
Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Second Report of Session 2009-10,
Pressstandards, privacy and libel, HC 362-I, para 408 Back
364
Press standards, privacy and libel, para 412 Back
365
Press standards, privacy and libel, para 417 Back
366
Press standards, privacy and libel, Ev 176 Back
367
Ev 254 Back
368
Ev 202, para 5c Back
369
Ev 254 Back
370
Ev 254 Back
371
Ev 202 Back
372
Culture, Media and Sport Committee Seventh Report of Session 2006-07,
Self-regulation of the press, HC 375, Ev 34 Back
373
See the transcript from 19 October 2011, Ev 236 and Ev 253 Back
374
Press Complaints Commission, Report on subterfuge and newsgathering,
2007 Back
375
Press standards, privacy and libel, para 435 Back
376
Ev 222 Back
377
Ev 225 Back
378
Ev 225 Back
379
Ev 239 (attachments) Back
380
Ev 239 (attachments) Back
381
Ev 239 (attachments) Back
382
Ev 271 Back
383
Ev 239 (attachments) Back
384
Q1244 Back
385
"Murdoch papers paid £1m to gag phone-hacking victims",
Guardian Online,8 July 2009;"No Inquiries. No charges.
No evidence", News of the World, 12 July 2009; "Statement
by Assistant Commissioner Yates", Metropolitan Police Service
Press Release, 9 July 2009 Back
386
Ev 260 Back
387
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev
276 Back
388
Ev 260 Back
389
Ev 260 Back
390
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev 304-339 Back
391
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev 359 Back
392
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev
386 Back
393
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev
482 Back
394
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev
482 Back
395
Ev 254 Back
396
Press standards, privacy and libel, para 440 Back
397
'Tabloid hack attack on royals, and beyond', New York Times,
1 September 2010 Back
398
'Met Police to re-examine News of the World hacking case',
BBC News Online, 6 September 2010 Back
399
HC Deb, 10 March 2011, col 1170 Back
400
Ev 159 Back
401
Ev 159 Back
402
Ev 161 Back
403
Ev 166 Back
404
'Missing Milly Dowler's voicemail was hacked by News of the
World', Guardian online, 4 July 2011 Back
405
'Rebekah Brooks: 'it's inconceivable I knew of Milly Dowler phone
hacking", The Guardian, 5 July 2011 Back
406
News International Announces Last Issue of News of the World;
News Corp press release, 07 July 2011 Back
407
HC Deb, 11 July 2011, col 39 Back
408
Home Affairs Committee, Thirteenth Report of Session 2010-12,
unauthorised tapping in to or hacking of mobile communications,
HC 907, Ev 54 Back
409
HC Deb, 13 July 2011, col 311 Back
410
'News Corporation Withdraws Proposed Offer for British Sky Broadcasting
Group PLC', News Corporation press release, 13 July 2011 Back
411
Ev 167 Back
412
Ev 168 Back
413
'Rupert Murdoch says sorry to Dowler family over phone hacking',
BBC News Online, 15 July 2011 Back
414
'Rupert Murdoch says sorry in newspaper adverts', BBC News Online,
16 July 2011 Back
415
'Statement from the Commissioner', Metropolitan Police Service
press release, 17 July 2011 Back
416
Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Uncorrected transcript of
oral evidence, 19 July 2011, HC 903-ii Back
417
'James Murdoch evidence questioned by former executives', BBC
News Online, 22 July 2011 Back
418
Ev 169 Back
419
'News of the World targeted the phone of Sarah Payne's
mother', The Guardian, 28 July 2011 Back
420
Ev 170, Ev 169, Ev 171, Ev 169 and Ev 170 Back
421
Ev 188, Ev 190, Ev 197, Ev 198, Ev 201 and Ev 219 Back
422
Ev 172, Ev 190, Ev 197, Ev 199, Ev 202 and Ev 221 Back
423
Ev 222, Ev 224, Ev 225, Ev 227, Ev 228, Ev 229, Ev 230 Back
424
'Coulson got hundreds of thousands of pounds from News International',
BBC News Online, 22 August 2011 Back
425
Press standards, privacy and libel, Volume II, Ev 335-6,
Q268 and Q574 Back
426
'Glenn Mulcaire names News of the World staff behind phone
hacking', The Guardian, 26 August 2011 Back
427
Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Uncorrected transcript of
oral evidence, 6 September 2011, HC 903-iii Back
428
Ev 223, Ev 225, Ev 227, Ev 228, Ev 229, Ev 230, Ev 231 and Ev
234 Back
429
Ev 222 and Ev 234 Back
430
Q1113 Back
431
Ev 236 Back
432
Ev 236, Ev 237, Ev 255 and Ev 259 Back
433
Ev 253 Back
434
See, for example, http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16110021 Back
435
www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=48263 Back
|