In These New Times

In this case the prosecution claimed that messages which Campbell claimed had been sent to him by Danielle Jones could not have been sent by her and that Campbell must have himself sent them and been in posession of her phone. That claim can no longer stand if others had access to the phone.

Independent

7th July, 2011

The investigation into the death of Essex teenager Danielle Jones could be re-examined after the inquiry into the voicemail hacking scandal found that mobile phones linked to her may have been targeted by a private investigator working for the News of the World.

Stuart Campbell, the uncle of the 15-year-old schoolgirl whose body was never found after her disappearance in June 2001, was convicted of her murder in 2002 after a trial in which prosecutors relied on forensic evidence relating to text messages sent from Danielle’s phone.

Scotland Yard is now looking for evidence of mobile phone hacking related to every high-profile murder and abduction of a child since 2001 following the disclosure this week that private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and the NOTW hacked into the phone of Milly Dowler, allegedly deleting voicemails which had been left for her and creating the false impression that she was still alive. Police feared the deleted messages may have contained important evidence about the disappearance of the Surrey teenager in March 2002.

The parents of Holly Chapman and Jessica Wells, the schoolgirls murdered in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002, have also been told their voicemails may have been accessed.

Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who has been a prominent campaigner on the hacking scandal, told the Commons yesterday that evidence suggesting Danielle’s phone and others linked to her were targeted by Mulcaire had been discovered by Operation Weeting, the inquiry into phone hacking. Police sources confirmed details of the phones had been found and said the information was being assessed for potential impact on the original murder investigation.

The revelation came as relatives of victims of the 7/7 bombings spoke of their distress at being told that their details had also been found in Mulcaire’s documentation. Three people – the parents of two victims and one emergency services worker – have been told they may have been targeted by the NOTW.

Graham Foulkes, who lost his son David in the attacks, was told information including his mobile and ex-directory landline numbers had been found. He said: “My wife and I were kind of all over the place, we were chatting to friends on the phone, in a very personal and deeply emotional context – and the thought that somebody may have been listening to that just looking for a cheap headline is just horrendous.”

Sean Cassidy, whose son Ciaran died in the explosion on a Piccadilly line train, said his mobile phone number and home address had been obtained by Mulcaire. “I am angry,” he said. “I don’t mind as much when they hack rich people or celebrities who can fight it out in the courts, but why prey on innocent people like us? It is just not on.”

In a further development, Clarence Mitchell, the spokesman for the parents of Madeleine McCann said he had been interviewed by detectives following evidence of attempts to obtain details about his mobile phone in 2008.

Mr Mitchell, who has represented Kate and Gerry McCann since the disappearance of their daughter in 2007, said he had been alerted to “suspicious activity” on his Vodafone account. He said there was no evidence he had been hacked or that the phones of the McCanns had been accessed.