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Milly Dowler Case
13 year-old Milly Dowler was kidnapped. Glenn Mulcaire hacked into her phone, finding a job interview offer. The News of the World thought she was alive, but it was later said Milly's number was mistakenly dialled by the company. The owners were harassed by the NOTW reporters, who told their manager that they were employing underage girls. They later showed the police the message and printed it in early editions of the paper, but the police failed to investigate the hacking, which broke the law. -
Rebekah Brooks' Confession
Rebekah Brooks, editor of NOTW and The Sun, revealed that they have paid the police for information in the past and that they may be likely to do so in the future. No other newspapers, members of the Labour committee or home secretaries were interested in this and stated that it was up to the police to investigate. The police were unresponsive to this issue when raised to them. -
Clare Burnal Case
Clare Burnal was shot dead in her place of work by a stalker. The same day, the NOTW stuffed a packet of cash into her Mum, Patricia's letterbox asking for an exclusive interview. 24 hours later, Glenn Mulcaire hacked into Clare's phone - he had been told to gather information a day after her death. Patricia only found out about Clare's phone being hacked 6 years later, after police told her. -
Prince William's Hacking
Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire of the NOTW were charged with intercepting voicemail messages after information regarding Prince William's knee injury was printed. They both pleaded guilty and were jailed. Editor Andy Coulson said he took responsibility and resigned. News International insisted that this was simply the result of a rogue reporter. -
Mulcaire's Notebook Targets
The MET had found the names of 400 more targets of Mulcaire's, but the MET told lawyers reporting to the DOPP there was no evidence the hacking conspiracy went further. This was the busiest period the anti-terrorism unit had ever experienced and Mulcaire's hacking wasn't top priority. It should have been passed to another unit, but wasn't and it's boss, Andy Hayman's job was having good relations with the media, which extended to a social level. This may have interfered with the investigation. -
The MET'S Incompetence
Lord Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister had been working alongside Andy Hayman and had no idea that he had been a target of Mulcaire's. Hayman defended not telling Prescott by saying not all of the targets had been acted upon. Instead, this information was revealed to Rebekah Brooks, who had also been a target. The MET has since apologised for not warning targets, but this has not yet been explained. It has been speculated the police wanted to cover the hacking up. -
The Chipping Norton Set
After Andy Coulson's resignation from the NOTW after the Royal hacking scandal, he was appointed Head of Communications for the Tories, recommended by George Osbourne, ally of David Cameron. David Cameron attempted to build a relationship with Rupert Murdoch in order to win public support and ended up living nearby Rebekah Brooks and her partner and Liz Murdoch (Rupert's daughter) in Oxfordshire. The Sun was to back Cameron in the 2010 election and he and Rebekah Brooks grew closer. -
Further Investigation of Hacking
The Guardian made one of the settlements between News International and its hacking victims public and revealed that NI journalists had selected hundreds of people for phone hacking. John Yates of the MET was asked to determine whether an inquiry was needed. It was launched the next morning and was over by the evening with the decision of no further investigation being required. -
National Witness Protection Scheme Hack
John Yates' investigation showed Glenn Mulcaire obtained sensitive information which the MET never admitted to - the details of people on the National Witness Protection Scheme. Mulcaire had gotten the new names of 4 of the most notorious crime committers in British history, including Robert Thompson (James Bulger's killer), who the NOTW printed several articles about. The MET stated they were not paid to release this info. The NOTW and Glenn Mulcaire weren't reported to the Attorney General. -
NOTW Hacking Continues
The NOTW continued to hack the families of people of interest, including the families of lawyers of hacking victims. -
Sean Hoare as a Witness
Andy Coulson wasn't properly security checked before being appointed HOC by the now PM, David Cameron. Sean Hoare, former NOTW journalist, told the New York Times Andy Coulson must have known about the phone hacking at the NOTW. This was when people at the MET started to have suspicions surrounding Coulson. Despite this, Hoare was said to be treated as a suspect, rather than a witness, so he told them nothing. NI had used Hoare's problems with drink and drugs to discredit him. He died in 2011. -
Operation Wheating
News International, in an attempt to save its reputation, handed over evidence to the police. By then, the MET had launched a new inquiry, Operation Wheating. It properly scrutinised the documents seized from Glenn Mulcaire years before and found hacking targets like the families of Jessica Chapman. -
The News of the World's Shut Down
Allegations of illegal phone hacking by NOTW in the Milly Dowler case surfaced and were printed in The Guardian. Rupert Murdoch was shamed and humiliated. The News of the World newspaper was shut down in disgrace. -
Pressure on David Cameron
Pressure was mounting on Andy Coulson, which reached into Downing Street and onto David Cameron. He disregarded advice to him and continued to associate himself with criminals like Andy Coulson, which was thought to permanently damage his image. He said he'd accepted the consistent claims of Andy Coulson that he'd had no involvement in the phone hacking scandals. -
The Leveson Inquiry
Held at the Royal Courts of Justice and investigated the media and its relationship with politicians and the police. Lord Leveson wanted to know what had gone wrong and who knew what and when. No member of the Cabinet admitted to knowing that phone hacking went wider than what had been disclosed. It emerged in court that there was a relationship between Tony Blair and Rebekah Brooks with the hacking scandal. -
Andy Coulson's Trial
Andy Coulson, editor of NOTW from 2003, admitted for the first time that he knew hacking had happened. He told the court he didn't know accessing the private messages of David Blunkett, Home Secretary, was illegal. Coulson promised that Blunkett's affair wouldn't damage him, but 2 days later, it was the NOTW's front page story. Police later found the recordings of 330 of Blunkett's messages in a NOTW safe. Rebekah Brooks' son later named his lover, though Blunkett went on to work for The Sun.