Film stars, a tabloid and skullduggery - this has it all

It's taking its time but it looks as though the News of the World (NoW) phone hacking scandal might just be coming to a head.  The Guardian, which has been relentless in reporting the developing story, now claims that a document has been lodged with the high court that suggests that the phone hacking was more than just the work of one or two 'rogue' reporters - it refers to this as 'explosive new evidence'. 



What is most worrying about this is that the document, produced by lawyers for actors Sienna Miller and Jude Law, cites extracts from paperwork that the Metropolitian Police seized from the NoW's private investigator Glenn Mulcaire back in 2006.  This is potentially a huge media story, but the most disquieting aspect seems to be that Scotland Yard simply sat on its hands rather than do something about a huge cache of potential evidence.  The Yard had previously agreed with the CPS that it would tell all of the 'potential victims' that they were targets of phone hacking.  They don't appear to have done this and at best this seems to be incompetence.



There are now around 20 public figures who have said that they are considering suing the NoW for breach of privacy, including the former deputy prime minister, John Prescott.  As Private Eye would say, this one will run and run!  This could just be heading to become one of the biggest media stories for many, many years.