The News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations''' followed the revelations in 2005 of voicemail interception on behalf of News of the World. Despite wider evidence of wrongdoing, the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal appeared resolved with the 2007 conviction of the News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, and the resignation of editor Andy Coulson. However, a series of civil legal cases and investigations by newspapers, parliament and the police ultimately saw evidence of "industrial scale" phone hacking, leading to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July 2011. However, the affair did not end there, developing into the News Corporation ethics scandal as wrongdoing beyond the News of the World (including the United States) and beyond phone hacking (including paying police for information) came to light.

Civil legal cases The News of the World royal phone hacking scandal had raised evidence of victims being targeted outside the Royal Family, but this evidence did not lead to criminal proceedings. In lieu of criminal proceedings, several public figures commenced litigation against the News of the Worlds owner News International and against the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Those who began legal action included the football agent Sky Andrew, actress Sienna Miller, actor Steve Coogan, television presenter Chris Tarrant and football pundit Andy Gray. In December 2009, footballer Sol Campbell instructed his solicitor to contact the police in response to various media reports. The Max Clifford case, which in early 2010 had appeared to make likely the disclosure of previously secret News of the World documents, was settled out of court in March 2010, keeping the documents secret. The next month, reports of further legal action against the News of the World emerged. Those considering litigation against the paper included a football agent and ten MPs. The legal action re-opened the possibility of details emerging that the settlement with Clifford had kept secret.The Observer, 25 April 2010, New claims of phone hacking put pressure on Andy Coulson

Max Clifford case, 2010 In March 2010 the News of the World settled out-of-court a case brought against it by publicist Max Clifford for intercepting his voicemail. After a lunch with Rebekah Brooks, the paper agreed to pay Clifford's legal fees and an undisclosed "personal payment" not described as damages, with the sum exceeding £1 million. The money was paid in exchange for Clifford giving the News of the World exclusive stories over the next several years.

The case had been expected to reveal the details of previous settlements the paper had made, including the £1 million spent in 2009, settling with three phone hacking victims, and the unfair dismissal claim won by Clive Goodman.The Guardian, 9 March 2010, Max Clifford drops News of the World phone hacking action in £1m deal Clifford had won court rulings in February earlier that year that meant that the News of the World would have had to disclose previously secret information regarding which journalists were involved in hacking voicemail messages. A judge ruled that Glenn Mulcaire had to disclose the names of all the journalists who targeted Clifford and also those who received transcripts of the messages. With the eventual settlement, however, the information was not made public.

HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan A report aired on Channel 4's Dispatches in October included remarks made by an unnamed source said to have been a former senior journalist at the News of the World who had worked alongside Coulson. The source alleged that Coulson had personally listened to messages obtained through phone hacking.

In December 2010, Coulson – while under oath as a witness in HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan – denied any knowledge of phone hacking at the News of the World or that he knew the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. The following day, the Crown Prosecution Service said that it had determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge Coulson over allegations that he was aware of phone hacking at the publication. The CPS said that witnesses interviewed by the Metropolitan Police – including those who had previously made allegations through media outlets – had not been willing to provide admissible evidence.

Sienna Miller case New allegations about the conduct of News of the World executives emerged in December 2010. Papers lodged in the High Court by lawyers acting for Sienna Miller claimed to have uncovered evidence of the involvement of Ian Edmondson, a senior editor at the paper, in work undertaken by Mulcaire.

Newspaper investigations

The Guardian

2009 Beginning on 8 July 2009, The Guardian made a series of allegations that the phone hacking activities at the News of the World went far beyond the activities for which the News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed in 2007, those activities being limited to members of the royal household. The paper alleged that hacking victims included public figures such as former deputy prime minister John Prescott, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, Tessa Jowell when she was Olympics Secretary, Boris Johnson when he was the opposition's spokesman on higher education, publicist Max Clifford and even Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News of the Worlds sister paper The Sun. In addition to this The Guardian reported that News Group – the News of the World's parent company – paid out more than £1m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of News of the World journalists using criminal methods (accessing mobile phone voicemails of various public figures) to obtain stories.Nick Davies, "Murdoch papers paid £1m to gag phone-hacking victims", The Guardian, 8 July 2009 The article further reported sources as stating that News Group staff used private investigators to access several thousand mobile phone accounts.

The News of the World denied The Guardians claims, and its parent company, News Corporation, implored its competitor newspaper to share any evidence it had with police.

Prescott in particular was outraged at the fact that the police did not inform him of the phone tapping, but Assistant Commissioner John Yates stated that there was no actual evidence that Prescott's phone had been tapped."Prescott: Police decision 'so quick'". BBC News.

Contrary to claims made by News of the World in 2007, The Guardian in July 2009 claimed that phone hacking activities were known to a range of staff at the tabloid including its then editor Andy Coulson. At the time The Guardian made these claims, Coulson had left News International and was director of Conservative Party communications and planning. Due to this, some claimed that the reporting was politically motivated. The Conservative Party was quick to stand by Coulson.

The Guardian also reported that the News of the World had made payments in excess of £1 million to three people subject to phone hacking, including Professional Footballers' Association chairman Gordon Taylor, with the out-of-court settlements subject to secrecy clauses.The Guardian, 9 December 2009, MPs' phone-hacking report delayed as Rebekah Brooks called to give evidence Around the same time, Private Eye revealed that The Guardian had, in order to avoid "all out war" with the News of the World, chosen not to tell the same Culture, Media and Sport Committee that the £700,000 payment to Taylor was signed off in June 2008, by the directors of News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary owning the News of the World - thus showing awareness of the matter at the highest levels.Private Eye (1241) The reports led the Press Complaints Commission to reopen its inquiry into the matter (finding that it had not been "materially misled",The Guardian, 9 November 2009, PCC finds no evidence that it was misled in phone hacking inquiry leading The Guardian'''s editor Alan Rusbridger to resign from the PCC) and the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to reopen its inquiry.

2010 In January 2010, The Guardian revealed the out of court payment to Goodman on grounds of settling an unfair dismissal case, and the later subsequent payment to Mulcaire. This started a new series of both newspaper stories, and subsequent further written questions from the Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, to both News International and its executives. In February 2010, The Guardian reported that three mobile phone companies had discovered that the voicemails of over a hundred of their customers had been hacked. The companies identified the customers in 2007, after Scotland Yard disclosed numbers that had been accessed by Goodman and Mulcaire. A freedom of information request by The Guardian found that the police had recovered 91 PIN codes for accessing other people's voicemails in material seized from Mulcaire and Goodman. In April 2010, it was revealed from Crown Prosecution Service documents that although police had named only eight individuals in court, the Scotland Yard inquiry had actually uncovered over 4,000 names or partial names and nearly 3,000 full or partial telephone numbers from the materials seized from Mulcaire and Goodman.Nick Davies. "Police 'ignored News of the World phone hacking evidence'". The Guardian. 4 April 2010.

In February 2010 The Guardian revealed that under Coulson the News of the World had rehired a private investigator shortly after his release from a seven-year prison sentence for blackmail. The News of the World had used the investigator prior to his imprisonment, at a time when Coulson was deputy editor. In February 2010, The Guardian could not name Jonathan Rees as he was involved in a new criminal trial.Nick Davies, guardian.co.uk, 24 February 2010, Andy Coulson hit by new tabloid trick charges

In September 2010 The Guardian revealed that in 2009 plans by the Home Office to ask Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to review the police investigation into the phone hacking scandal were cancelled "after intense internal lobbying", with a senior Home Office official warning that the Metropolitan Police would "deeply resent" an inquiry.Nick Davies, Nicholas Watt and Vikram Dodd, guardian.co.uk, 6 September 2010, Phone-hacking inquiry was abandoned to avoid upsetting police Several days later the paper revealed comments by former News of the World journalist Paul McMullan on how widespread phone hacking had been under Andy Coulson; McMullan was one of six former News of the World journalists "who have independently told the Guardian that Coulson ... knew that his reporters were engaging in unlawful acts.".Nick Davies, guardian.co.uk, 8 September 2010, Phone hacking was rife at News of the World, claims new witness

The New York Times In September 2010, The New York Times published the results of an investigation it had begun in March which revealed further details about the extent of the News of the Worlds phone hacking, and about editor Andy Coulson's alleged knowledge of it. The investigation also revealed that a journalist at the News of the World had been attempting to hack into the voicemail messages of a "television personality" in 2010. The journalist was suspended from reporting and faced legal action by the personality.

The Times piece cited Sean Hoare, a former colleague, as saying that Coulson had "actively encouraged" phone hacking. Coulson denied the claims and indicated that he would allow himself to be questioned by the Metropolitan Police Service regarding the phone hacking affair.

Press Complaints Commission investigations The Guardian's 2009 investigation led the Press Complaints Commission to reopen its inquiry into the matter (finding that it had not been "materially misled", leading The Guardians editor Alan Rusbridger to resign from the PCC) and the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to reopen its inquiry.

Police investigations