POLICE REOPEN PHONE PROBE
THE News of the World phone hacking scandal continued to gather pace yesterday, with interior designer Kelly Hoppen, the former step-mother of Sienna Miller (pictured), claiming her phone records were intercepted as recently as last year.
Hoppen is suing the paper and one of its writers, Dan Evans, for “accessing or attempting to access her voicemail messages between June 2009 and March 2010”. Evans was suspended from the paper in April last year.
A statement from News of the World said: “We have carried out an extensive investigation led by a team of independent forensic specialists and we have found no evidence whatsoever to support this allegation.”
The revelation follows hot on the heels of the sacking of the paper’s assistant news editor Ian Edmondson, which is linked to “significant” new information being investigated by the Metropolitan police.
And earlier this month Tory spin doctor Andy Coulson stepped down, saying he could no longer give “110 per cent” to his work while the scandal dominates the headlines.