A reporter of News of the World admitted he obtained information illegally

Jan 28, 2014 14:49 GMT  ·  By
A reporter from News of the World admitted that he hacked Daniel Craig's phone to get confidential information
   A reporter from News of the World admitted that he hacked Daniel Craig's phone to get confidential information

It all started when Dan Evans from the now defunct News of the World magazine was told by superiors that he wasn't bringing in enough stories. The reporter now admits to hacking Daniel Craig's phone and thus finding out about his secret affair with Sienna Miller.

“I remember being monstered by (NotW journalist). He sent me an email saying ‘If you do not come up with a front page story you might as well jump off a cliff,’” Evans said during the trial at Old Bailey.

Evans confessed that he heard a message on Craig's phone saying “Hi it's me, I can't speak. I'm at the Groucho with Jude. I love you,” and then traced the call as belonging to Sienna Miller.

The reporter went on to disclose how his editor, Andy Coulson, was thrilled to get the scoop, telling him “you're a company man now” and deployed a large team of journalists on the case. He says the editor instructed him to make a copy of the tape, put it in a Jiffy bag and drop it off at the front gate.

This was done in order to make it seem like someone had dropped it off as an anonymous tip. Evans was then sent to Craig's home to make the “accusation,” which the actor vehemently denied. This caused a week of delay in running the story.

However, another voicemail message from Jude Law that said “Thanks, mate. I hope Saski (his then-girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell) doesn't find out,” made them contact Law's public relations executive who confirmed the conversation took place.

At this point, they published the story and thus sparked the great phone hacking scandal which later led to the demise of News of the World. This testimony confirms that several members of the staff at the magazine were involved in phone hacking in order to obtain confidential information.

All defendants, including Andy Coulson, Evan's superior at the time, and Rebekah Brooks, who previously used to work for the Sun, deny all charges against them, ITV reports.