adminThe story alleged a romantic relationship between soccer players’ association chief Gordon Taylor and a lawyer named Joanne Armstrong, with whom he had been photographed having lunch.
Taylor said he believed the story was based on a voice mail message from Armstrong thanking Taylor for speaking at her father’s funeral.
The message said: “Thank you for yesterday. You were wonderful.”
Lewis said that a tabloid journalist “added two and two and made 84. . . . If it hadn’t been so sad, it would have been funny”.
In 2008, Rupert Murdoch’s News International agreed to pay Taylor hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for the hacking of his phone in return for keeping quiet about the deal.
Murdoch shut down the discredited News of the World tabloid in July after evidence emerged that it had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of public figures, celebrities and even crime victims in its search for scoops.
Lewis has represented many prominent hacking victims, including the family of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler, whose voice mails were accessed by the News of the World after she disappeared in 2002.
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the public inquiry into media ethics and practices in response to the still-evolving hacking scandal. This week it has heard testimony from celebrities including actor Hugh Grant and comedian Steve Coogan.
Late last night it was expected to hear from the parents of Madeleine McCann, who vanished from a hotel room in May 2007 during a family vacation in Portugal.
The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to the way the media in Britain are regulated.
Meanwhile, satellite broadcaster BSkyB, part owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has appointed external lawyers to review the e-mails of some of its most successful journalists to check there were no signs of illegal newsgathering.
A BSkyB spokesperson said on Monday the company had appointed its external legal counsel, Herbert Smith, to review e-mails going back to 2005 in areas where news was broken outside of the normal diary agenda.
“There has been no suggestion of any impropriety at Sky News. We remain committed to the highest standards,” the spokesperson said.
Journalistic practices are under huge scrutiny in Britain following a scandal at News Corp’s now-closed News of the World tabloid, in which people working for the paper hacked into the phones of thousands of people to generate stories.
BSkyB decided to launch the review a few months ago at the Sky News channel, which regularly breaks financial and political news. News Corp failed in its bid to buy the rest of BSkyB it did not already own as politicians turned against the media mogul and his handling of a scandal which damaged the value and reputation of the company. — Sapa.
Online Reporter