News of the World Hacked Into Phone Of Sara Payne, Mother Of Sarah Payne, Abducted And Murdered Girl

The News of the World hacked into the phone of Sara Payne, the mother of Sarah Payne, an abducted and murdered 8-year-old girl, the Guardian reported Tuesday.

It was the hacking of 13-year-old Milly Dowler's phone that turned the long-simmering phone hacking scandal into a full-blown crisis for the News of the World, Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. Yet the news of Payne's hacking is, in some ways, even more shocking, because it was her daughter's murder by a pedophile in 2000 that led News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks to launch a crusade for a sex offender's law in Britain known as "Sarah's Law." Brooks repeatedly mentioned the campaign in her testimony to Parliament, calling it an example of the good that the News of the World had done.

Payne grew so close to the paper, and to Brooks, that she wrote a column for its final issue, paying tribute to its campaign.

"The NOTW team supported me through some of the darkest, most difficult times of my life and became my trusted friends," she wrote. "One example of their support was to give me a phone to help me stay in touch with my family, friends and support network, which turned out to be an absolute lifeline."

According to the Guardian, it is that phone—personally given to Payne by Brooks—which may have been hacked. The disclosure raises, yet again, the question about what Brooks knew or did not know about the extent of phone hacking. Though she has claimed to have been in the dark about the extent of criminal activity at her newspaper, Brooks has already resigned as head of News International and is under a criminal investigation.

Scotland Yard reportedly found materials referring to Payne in the notes of Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who was jailed for phone hacking in 2007.

In response, Rebekah Brooks issued this statement:

"For the benefit of the campaign for Sarah's Law, the News of the World have provided Sara with a mobile telephone for the last 11 years. It was not a personal gift. The idea that anyone on the newspaper knew that Sara or the campaign team were targeted by Mr Mulcaire is unthinkable. The idea of her being targeted is beyond my comprehension. It is imperative for Sara and the other victims of crime that these allegations are investigated and those culpable brought to justice."

Comments

[Britishdemocrat]

08:12 PM on 08/05/2011

This is the worst of the worst in the phone hacking scandal. And we haven't seen the worst yet at the Mirror, too.

[gypsysailor]

05:15 AM on 08/01/2011

If it was my family that these people hacked into the headline would be much different.

[chaapai]

11:17 PM on 07/31/2011

who's the woman in the picture standing beside Side Show Bob?

[Congo Line]

06:12 PM on 07/31/2011

These are sick people. Very.

On another note, Brooks' hair is a glorious mane.

[stalana]

05:56 PM on 07/31/2011

Greedier people and more power to oligopoly. What you can expect?

poor competition, poor creativity, destroy of human reputation

and silent for those with different way of thinking.

[FreedToChoose]

04:21 PM on 07/31/2011

What I don't understand is why hacking into a celebrity's phone is less problematic than hacking into a deceased person's?

[spkninglsh]

03:26 PM on 07/31/2011

If you look closely, you can see the image of John Boehner in Rebekah Brooks' hair.

[TrippyWeekender]

02:16 PM on 07/31/2011

Rebekah Brooks knew everything. She's a Type A manager for a Type A mogul and her allegiance overwhelmed her ethics. No way she didn't have a hand in this.

[elegant shack]

02:15 PM on 07/31/2011

This woman Brooks sounds like a perfect T-Party candidate. Disgusting & deceitful !

[cabrobst]

08:46 AM on 07/31/2011

Why is this monster still walking the streets?

[Massconfusion]

05:29 AM on 07/31/2011

These folks should not go down because of political allegiance but for the fact that they are truly odious human beings, blinded by ambition to obtain a story rather that get to the truth!

[Celt Glen]

03:08 PM on 07/31/2011

Not so much "blinded by ambition" as blinded by money

[janalyce]

08:47 PM on 07/31/2011

And power. Never forget the lure of power.

[cafemocha]

02:14 AM on 07/31/2011

Murdochalypse - Wow!
Rebeka = lead whoresmen of the Murdochalypse.

[emlr]

10:38 AM on 07/31/2011

Great play on words! F&F'd!

[David Beeotch Litton]

01:07 PM on 07/30/2011

Note to Huffington Post:

Your opening paragraph is incorrect. You state that "News of the World hacked into the phone of Sara Payne, the mother of Sarah Payne, an abducted and murdered 8-year-old girl, the Guardian reported Tuesday." In fact, The Guardian reported no such thing, saying that Scotland Yard has "found evidence to suggest she was targeted by the News of the World's investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who specialised in hacking voicemail." There's a difference.

Also, a sentence found later in your report- "According to the Guardian, it is that phone—personally given to Payne by Brooks—which may have been hacked"- also contradicts your opening paragraph.

[democratsaint]

10:10 AM on 08/01/2011

who spewcialize din hacking voicemail ,um phone have voice mail.

[HLauther]

11:21 AM on 07/30/2011

While it may seem confusing at first glance to those who skim read, the mother and daughter have first names that are almost identical, except one ends with the letter H. For example, if they didn't add the two middle initials, imagine how confusing this would be: George Bush, the father of George Bush....

[emlr]

10:41 AM on 07/31/2011

How about George Foreman and his 5 sons named George?

[Bill Wilt]

11:12 AM on 07/30/2011

Hmm. Anybody ever hear of the Trojan Horse? (From whence the phrase, "Beware of Greeks -- and now publishers--bearing gifts.")

Now, if only Rupe's team had hacked the phones of: (say):
The Cheney's; Shrub (Arbusto II or Bush II); Marvin Bush (brother w/ WTC security company); Jeb Bush; Condoleeza Rice; Philip Zelikow, Condi's pal; Richard Meyers; Donald Rumsfeld; Paul "Socks" Wolfowitz; Rudy "Mr. 9/11" Giuliani; Larry "Pull It" Silverstein; David Addington; Doug Feith; GeorgeTenet; Richard Perle; Henry Kissinger (were the taps to happen, unfortunately Daniel Schoor is no longer around to enjoy the schadenfreude. Turnabout's fair play, so 'tis said); All the Big Oil reps at Cheney's secret Jan-Feb "energy sessions" in 2001--which took place DAYS before September, and even more days before Oct. 2001/Afghanistan and March 19, 2003, Iraq. But the Iraqi oil fields had already been divvied up by Darth & his cronies; James Baker III, we should probably add.

And John Yoo; Michael B. Mukasey (now partner @ debevoise/plimpton & bd member, WSJ--which just hired Mukasey's firm to represent them thru the "trials and tribulations of Rupe The Barbarian"); Bush I; Carlyle Group; Mike Hayden (from one espionage agency to another); Mike Chertoff (another of those guys who gets around in GOP administrations); ditto Dov Zakheim.

Anyone else? With that raft of wiretaps (or hacks, or eavesdropping) in place, maybe we'd have learned more about what REALLY happened before, during & after 9/11/2001. Even in NOTW.