The News of the World phone-hacking scandal took a bizarre twist yesterday as it was revealed that former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie is among those who may have been targeted by the paper.
He is not the first News International journalist to find his phone messages may have been hacked by journalists working for a sister title.
Sunday Times journalist Brandan Montague is one of four individuals seeking judicial review of the way the police handled allegations that their phones may have been hacked by the News of the World.
MacKenzie confirmed to The Guardian yesterday that he had been told by phone-hack law firm Mischon de Reya that he was among those listed as having been targeted by the NoW.
He told The Guardian: “I’m not going to sue, and I’ll write about it in my column and say how glad I am to have joined the serried ranks of celebrities hacked by the News of the World.
“I am pleased that my phone was hacked. I was very worried a one stage that I was nothing at all. We should all have our phones hacked. If you are a plumber in Rochdale your phone is only hacked two times in a lifetime. If you are Jeremy Clarkson your phone gets hacked 20,000 times.”
Yesterday a lawyer sought a court order forcing MacKenzie to disclose private emails and text messages. This followed comments made by the former Sun editor on Radio 4’s Today programme in which he appeared to indicate that he had breached privacy injunctions by telling readers the names of individuals covered by the secrecy orders.
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