Over the course of four witness statements to the Leveson inquiry, the Times has disclosed that there was an incident of attempted computer hacking in 2009. The extracts of the statements are at my Jack of Kent blog. (It is important to emphasise that the computer hacking — or attempt at hacking — was not authorised by the Times. It was a lone reporter.)
From the formal witness statements — all prepared for and approved by senior managers and lawyers at the Times — the following details have now been placed into the public domain: there was a computer hacking incident in 2009; the reporter was male; the computer hacking was in the form of unauthorised access to an email account; a disciplinary process was commenced after concerns from the newsroom; the reporter admitted the unauthorised access during the disciplinary process; it was held that there was no public interest in the attempted hacking; the incident was held to be “professional misconduct” and the reporter was disciplined; and the reporter is no longer with the business having been dismissed on an unrelated matter.
There is already speculation over the identity of the reporter. But to a large extent, the actual identity may not be important. What would be interesting to know is whether any fruits of the attempted or actual computer hacking were used in any published story by the Times. On that one point there is currently no information.
David Allen Green is legal correspondent of the New Statesman
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