Other tabloids besides Rupert Murdoch's News of the World may have hacked phones, a London court heard today as it began an investigation into newspaper practices that could lead to tougher regulation of the entire UK press.
The Leveson inquiry, expected to take about a year, was set up by British prime minister David Cameron after it was revealed in July that the News of the World ordered hacking of the voicemail of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who was later found murdered.
"The inquiry is beginning to receive evidence to indicate that phone hacking was not limited to that organisation," said Robert Jay, counsel to the inquiry.
He said Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed for phone-hacking in 2007 along with the News of the World's royal reporter Clive Goodman, had written the words "Daily Mirror" and "The Sun" in his notebooks, referring to other tabloids.
Mr Jay said the names of 27 other News of the World reporters besides that of Mr Goodman, long scapegoated by News Corp's British newspaper arm as a lone "rogue" reporter, had been found in Mr Mulcaire's notebooks.
As police work through a list of 5,800 potential hacking victims, including actor Hugh Grant, Harry Potter author JK Rowling and ex-soccer star Paul Gascoigne, the scale of the scandal at and beyond the News of the World is still unclear.
News Corp executive James Murdoch, son of chief executive Rupert Murdoch and executive chairman of the group's British newspaper arm, is meantime fighting for his credibility as heir to the media empire.
James Murdoch has testified twice to a British parliamentary committee that he knew nothing of the scale of phone-hacking at the once best-selling tabloid, which he closed down in July in an attempt to limit the damage.
Neville Thurlbeck, a former chief correspondent at the tabloid whose name appears in a key piece of evidence, said today he believed Mr Murdoch had indeed been kept in the dark.
Mr Murdoch's claims to have cleaned up the newspaper's culture, however, have been undermined by the News of the World's recent admission that it ordered surveillance of figures including lawyers representing hacking victims as early as this year.
Last week, Mr Murdoch apologised to members of the parliamentary committee for the fact that the News of the World had monitored their activities.
Earlier today, the chairman of the British public inquiry into press standards today warned editors against targeting people who speak out against intrusion by journalists.
Lord Justice Leveson said his team would monitor newspaper coverage over the coming months for any evidence that witnesses to his hearings were being singled out for negative stories.
Speaking at the opening of his inquiry, the chairman stressed that the freedom of the press was “fundamental” to the UK’s democracy and way of life.
He also recognised that there was a “great deal to applaud” in Britain’s present press, adding: “I certainly do not intend to limit my consideration to activities which could be the subject of criticism.”
But he stressed that he would be alert to any evidence of newspapers victimising witnesses who complained about press intrusion.
PA