Teen beauty spot drinkers are ramblers, not rebels
- Dave Burrows
NoW did hack Milly phone, say police
Monday 23rd January 2012, 6:59PM GMT.
A message allegedly from a recruitment agency on Milly Dowler’s phone about a job at a Telford factory was hacked by the News of the World, police revealed this afternoon.
Details of exchanges between police and the Sunday tabloid over the apparent hacking of the murdered schoolgirl’s phone were released by Surrey Police today. It follows claims and counterclaims by the paper’s staff and police.
The police report also revealed a News of the World journalist told police they got Milly’s mobile phone number and pin from other schoolchildren.
The information emerged with the publication of a letter from Surrey Police to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
It describes frantic discussions over a story the paper was planning to run, claiming that Milly had contacted a recruitment agency about a job in Telford.
The hacked message suggested Milly was wanted for interview at the Epson plant in Hortonwood, Telford.
An unnamed representative from the tabloid is said to have played police a recording of a voicemail left by the recruitment agency, which resulted in reporters from the paper staking out the Telford factory.
The letter says that on April 13, 2002, ‘the press officer spoke to (name redacted) and asked him why he was so convinced that the message on Milly’s voicemail was not a hoax’.
The response was that ‘the NotW had got Milly’s phone number and pin from schoolchildren’.
A press officer from Surrey Police is said to have spoken to someone from the paper about the story, which initially suggested Milly may be alive, on April 20, 2002.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said: “Had they acted in 2002 or had Sussex Police flagged this up in their review of Operation Ruby, it may have prevented the culture of hacking becoming endemic at News of the World.”
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