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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Leveson inquiry: Lawyer tells of Dowler family's false hope | Leveson inquiry: Lawyer tells of Dowler family's false hope |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A lawyer has told the phone hacking inquiry of the "euphoria" felt by Milly Dowler's mother when she found messages deleted on her daughter's phone. | A lawyer has told the phone hacking inquiry of the "euphoria" felt by Milly Dowler's mother when she found messages deleted on her daughter's phone. |
| David Sherborne said interception of the murdered schoolgirl's messages by a tabloid investigator was "despicable". | David Sherborne said interception of the murdered schoolgirl's messages by a tabloid investigator was "despicable". |
| Mr Sherborne represents 51 alleged victims of press intrusion and has been addressing Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into media practices in London. | Mr Sherborne represents 51 alleged victims of press intrusion and has been addressing Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry into media practices in London. |
| The inquiry earlier heard from the editor of the Guardian newspaper. | The inquiry earlier heard from the editor of the Guardian newspaper. |
| Mr Sherborne said Sally Dowler, Milly's mother, would tell the inquiry in her own words of the "euphoria" she felt when she logged into Milly's phone and found messages deleted. | Mr Sherborne said Sally Dowler, Milly's mother, would tell the inquiry in her own words of the "euphoria" she felt when she logged into Milly's phone and found messages deleted. |
| 'Self-serving agenda' | 'Self-serving agenda' |
| He described how the News of the World (NoW) tailed the Dowlers when they went to reconstruct their daughter's last journey. | |
| "Mile of grief" was one of several headlines above articles that intruded on the family's anguish and privacy, he said. | |
| It's the details which will linger in the mind. When Max Mosley, the former motorsports boss, was burying his son who'd died of an overdose, a reporter tried to pass himself off as a rambler in order to attend the funeral and take photographs. | |
| This was just one of the examples given by the "victims'" barrister David Sherborne as he sought to portray the tabloids as indulging in a "tawdry journalistic trade". He made it clear he didn't just have the NoW in his sights. | |
| The popular press, a powerful body according to the lawyer, bribed, intruded and hounded people purely because it sells newspapers. | |
| This will be a consistent theme next week when 21 people - not all of whom are household names - give evidence about how they have suffered at the hands of British newspapers. | |
| Mr Sherborne said the experience of his clients was "primarily and largely" at the tabloid or popular end of the press but "it is the whole of the press that stands in the dock". | Mr Sherborne said the experience of his clients was "primarily and largely" at the tabloid or popular end of the press but "it is the whole of the press that stands in the dock". |
| "While there are 51 core participant victims there are many more with similar stories." | "While there are 51 core participant victims there are many more with similar stories." |
| Mr Sherborne said the media had tried to influence politicians and persuade them that less regulation would make journalism better. | Mr Sherborne said the media had tried to influence politicians and persuade them that less regulation would make journalism better. |
| "The press is a powerful body. They have a common interest and a self-serving agenda... this is about survival." | "The press is a powerful body. They have a common interest and a self-serving agenda... this is about survival." |
| He said the press had a "self-serving agenda" and accused it of buying, stealing and making up stories. | He said the press had a "self-serving agenda" and accused it of buying, stealing and making up stories. |
| "The press have a very powerful voice and should not be able to drown out the voice of the victims." | "The press have a very powerful voice and should not be able to drown out the voice of the victims." |
| He warned: "A number of individuals have already been vilified for agreeing to share their experiences with this inquiry." | He warned: "A number of individuals have already been vilified for agreeing to share their experiences with this inquiry." |
| Mr Sherborne said police had pointed to over 2,000 tasks relating to the NoW in notebooks belonging to Glenn Mulcaire - the private investigator jailed in 2007 for illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides for the tabloid. | |
| 'Tangled web' | |
| He said this suggested that over the four years the notebooks covered, each edition of the tabloid could have had around 10 stories a day based on phone hacking "even leaving aside the other dark arts practiced by the newspaper". | He said this suggested that over the four years the notebooks covered, each edition of the tabloid could have had around 10 stories a day based on phone hacking "even leaving aside the other dark arts practiced by the newspaper". |
| He said the newspaper's stories were built on "manifestly unholy and indefensible ground" and the number of stories "must surely raise questions about who knew what and what level". | He said the newspaper's stories were built on "manifestly unholy and indefensible ground" and the number of stories "must surely raise questions about who knew what and what level". |
| He said regardless of what those in senior posts knew at the time, there was a concerted attempt later "to conceal the ugly truth from ever surfacing". | He said regardless of what those in senior posts knew at the time, there was a concerted attempt later "to conceal the ugly truth from ever surfacing". |
| Mr Sherborne said what had since unfolded had little to do with News Corporation newspapers "coming clean of their own accord". | Mr Sherborne said what had since unfolded had little to do with News Corporation newspapers "coming clean of their own accord". |
| The "tangled web" that had subsequently been spun, he said, had "revealed at the very least that someone somewhere is not telling the truth". | The "tangled web" that had subsequently been spun, he said, had "revealed at the very least that someone somewhere is not telling the truth". |
| Hacking victims were not always well-known people, he said, but were sometimes just involved with or friends of those in the public eye. | Hacking victims were not always well-known people, he said, but were sometimes just involved with or friends of those in the public eye. |
| Such victims were "the collateral damage in a war where every means - fair or foul - has been employed". | Such victims were "the collateral damage in a war where every means - fair or foul - has been employed". |
| Mr Sherborne alleged the NoW had also targeted other journalists "albeit broadsheet ones". "The press are even prepared to turn on their own." | Mr Sherborne alleged the NoW had also targeted other journalists "albeit broadsheet ones". "The press are even prepared to turn on their own." |
| Mr Sherborne said that Sara Payne, mother of murdered girl Sarah Payne, had been told her phone - given to her by the NoW - was probably hacked by Mulcaire. | Mr Sherborne said that Sara Payne, mother of murdered girl Sarah Payne, had been told her phone - given to her by the NoW - was probably hacked by Mulcaire. |
| That alleged hacking was "a sickening postscript, perhaps a new low" for the newspaper, he said. | That alleged hacking was "a sickening postscript, perhaps a new low" for the newspaper, he said. |
| Mr Sherborne said the Nazi-themed NoW's story about former Formula One boss Max Mosley attending an orgy was "a preconceived story for which they needed the facts to fit". | |
| He said camera footage of one of the women at the party, Woman E, showed how the NoW reporter Neville Thurlbeck instructed her on how best to capture Mr Mosley in a "Sieg Heil" salute. The Sieg Heil salute never happened and Mr Mosley won his case, Mr Sherborne said. | |
| Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told the inquiry it was important it looked at the 18 months after News International's "so-called rotten apple excuse" had exploded. | Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told the inquiry it was important it looked at the 18 months after News International's "so-called rotten apple excuse" had exploded. |
| Mr Rusbridger referred to "dogs that didn't bark", asking why it took four inquiries before phone-hacking allegations were taken seriously. | Mr Rusbridger referred to "dogs that didn't bark", asking why it took four inquiries before phone-hacking allegations were taken seriously. |
| 'Relentless' pressure | |
| He said the events leading up to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry had been "shocking and immensely damaging". | He said the events leading up to Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry had been "shocking and immensely damaging". |
| "There was, in short, a failure of the normal checks and balances in society to hold power to account." | "There was, in short, a failure of the normal checks and balances in society to hold power to account." |
| Mr Rusbridger asked whether News International's influence had been too dominant: "Did people both internally and externally feel a fear of News International?" | Mr Rusbridger asked whether News International's influence had been too dominant: "Did people both internally and externally feel a fear of News International?" |
| Lord Justice Leveson told the hearing he was "starting to get to grip with solutions that work for everybody". | Lord Justice Leveson told the hearing he was "starting to get to grip with solutions that work for everybody". |
| He said he would like to see some sort of mediation system that ran in parallel to the courts. | He said he would like to see some sort of mediation system that ran in parallel to the courts. |
| Prime Minister David Cameron established Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry after revelations that the voicemail of Milly Dowler may have been hacked by the NoW while the schoolgirl was missing. | Prime Minister David Cameron established Lord Justice Leveson's inquiry after revelations that the voicemail of Milly Dowler may have been hacked by the NoW while the schoolgirl was missing. |
| Live video of all the inquiry sessions is being streamed on the inquiry's website. | Live video of all the inquiry sessions is being streamed on the inquiry's website. |
| After the conclusion of the police investigation into NoW phone hacking, and any resultant prosecutions, a second phase of the inquiry will examine the extent of unlawful conduct by the press, and the police's initial hacking investigation. | After the conclusion of the police investigation into NoW phone hacking, and any resultant prosecutions, a second phase of the inquiry will examine the extent of unlawful conduct by the press, and the police's initial hacking investigation. |