Journalists used stolen voice mails to write stories

Nov 2, 2013 09:36 GMT  ·  By

The News of the World phone hacking trial has started. On Friday, prosecutors told the jury that the now defunct tabloid, owned by News UK (formerly News International), hacked into Prince Harry’s phone to get information for some stories.

According to NBC News, prosecutor Andrew Edis has presented evidence to show that a 2005 story about Prince Harry asking his private secretary for help in writing an essay was based entirely on voice mails stolen from his phone.

Apparently, a private investigator Glenn Mulcaire hacked into the phones of celebrities on behalf of News of the World. He was paid around $161,000 (€i118,000) per year.

Mulcaire was sentenced to six months in jail in 2007 for unlawfully intercepting phone messages.

The phone hacking trial targets eight individuals. They’re accused of phone hacking, hindering law enforcement investigations, and paying bribes to officials for stories. They’ve all pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.