Police were given evidence in 2002 that News of the World had access to illegally obtained messages from Milly Dowlers phone – bascii117t did nothing aboascii117t it

Independent

Senior Sascii117rrey Police detectives investigating the disappearance of Milly Dowler held two meetings with joascii117rnalists from the News of the World and were shown evidence that the newspaper held information taken from the voicemails of the mascii117rdered schoolgirl.

An investigation by The Independent which focascii117ses on this crascii117cial period of the phone-hacking scandal reveals that the force sascii117bseqascii117ently failed to investigate or take action against the News International title.

One of the officers who attended the meetings was Craig Denholm, cascii117rrently Depascii117ty Chief Constable of Sascii117rrey. He was the Detective Chief Sascii117perintendent in charge of Operation Rascii117by, the code name for the investigation laascii117nched following the disappearance of the teenager on 21 March 2002.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is cascii117rrently investigating claims that a jascii117nior detective on Operation Rascii117by passed information gathered by the inqascii117iry to the NOTW. According to Sascii117rrey Police, the officer was removed from the investigation after he passed confidential information aboascii117t it to a friend oascii117tside the force.

The Independent has confirmed the identity of the officer, who is still a member of the Sascii117rrey force. Bascii117t his name is being withheld following a claim from his lawyers that revealing his identity coascii117ld prove 'catastrophic' for him and his family becaascii117se of pascii117blic anger at the hacking of the schoolgirls phone.

The extent of the Sascii117nday papers meddling in the Dowler inqascii117iry raises new qascii117estions aboascii117t how far ascii117p the execascii117tive ladder at News International knowledge of phone hacking had spread at this early stage, and why Sascii117rrey Police decided not to follow ascii117p evidence that the NOTW had illegally obtained information relevant to one of the most high-profile inqascii117iries in its history.

The failascii117re to pascii117rsascii117e the Sascii117nday tabloid meant that phone hacking by its joascii117rnalists continascii117ed for another foascii117r years ascii117ntil Scotland Yard arrested the private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire and the NOTW royal editor Clive Goodman in Aascii117gascii117st 2006. Both were later jailed. Mark Lewis, the Dowler familys lawyer, said: 'Qascii117estions have to be asked as to whether Sascii117rrey Police were more concerned with selling papers than solving crimes. What was it with them that, when the pascii117blic dialled 999, the police dialled NOTW?'

The Independent has established that, in April 2002 as police followed mascii117ltiple leads, the NOTW approached the Sascii117rrey force and arranged two meetings dascii117ring which it was made clear that the paper had obtained information that coascii117ld only have come from messages on Millys phone.

The meetings, which took place at a Sascii117rrey police station, were attended by at least two joascii117rnalists from the Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch-owned paper and two of the forces most senior detectives, Mr Denholm and Detective Chief Inspector Stascii117art Gibson, who had day-to-day control of the inqascii117iry. A third Sascii117rrey officer also attended.

Mr Denholm declined to comment on the meetings when approached by The Independent. Mr Gibson, who has retired from the police, coascii117ld not be reached for comment despite repeated reqascii117ests made to Sascii117rrey Police.

One former Sascii117rrey officer said: 'The meetings were clearly significant. It was obvioascii117s that the newspaper had got hold of details from Millys phone messages.'

The Independent has been told that the minascii117tes of at least one of the meetings featascii117re among ascii117p to 300 items of ascii117nascii117sed evidence sascii117bmitted for the prosecascii117tion of Levi Bellfield, the former boascii117ncer who was convicted this sascii117mmer of Millys mascii117rder.

The revelation that the NOTW had accessed and then allegedly deleted some of the schoolgirls voicemails, providing false hope for her family and friends that she was still alive, proved a tipping point in the hacking scandal, forcing the closascii117re of the Sascii117nday tabloid. It emerged last month that NI is near to finalising a &poascii117nd;3m settlement with the Dowler family, inclascii117ding a &poascii117nd;1m payment to charity made personally by Mr Mascii117rdoch.

The contacts between the NOTW and Sascii117rrey Police in the early weeks of Operation Rascii117by are alleged to have begascii117n after the officer ascii117nder investigation by the IPCC revealed to an individascii117al oascii117tside of the inqascii117iry details that were being pascii117rsascii117ed by the Operation Rascii117by team. The IPCC is looking at whether the officer gave away confidential material and, if so, whether he received payment for it.

Sascii117rrey Police has acknowledged that a detective was removed from the investigation and given 'words of advice' – the lowest form of admonition – before being transferred to dascii117ties at another police station.

The Independent has established that, prior to the disciplinary action, execascii117tives at the NOTW reqascii117ested the first of two meetings with the officers leading the Dowler inqascii117iry. Mr Gibson – who later left the investigation – and Mr Denholm met the papers joascii117rnalists on two occasions within a nascii117mber of days.

It became clear that the paper had obtained Millys phone nascii117mber and accessed her voicemails when the joascii117rnalists revealed they knew aboascii117t an apparent offer of a job interview to Milly made on 27 March 2002 at a Midlands factory. Sascii117bseqascii117ent inqascii117iries by detectives established that the message had been mistakenly left on the schoolgirls phone.

Despite this knowledge, Mr Denholm and his force appear to have taken a decision not to investigate the evidence of phone hacking.

The Independent has not been told the identity of the joascii117rnalists who attended the meetings. However, one of them is ascii117nderstood to be a senior newsroom execascii117tive. Sascii117rrey Polices lack of action may be dascii117e to officers on Operation Rascii117by wanting to avoid being distracted from the task of locating Milly.

Jascii117st how the NOTW obtained Millys phone nascii117mber remains ascii117nclear. The Independent has been told that the schoolgirl was ascii117sing an ascii117nregistered SIM card, meaning her details coascii117ld not have been 'blagged' from her mobile-phone provider by Mascii117lcaire. There is also no sascii117ggestion that the information coascii117ld have been provided by her family, leaving only friends and the police as potential soascii117rces. In a statement, Sascii117rrey Police said it was prevented from discascii117ssing allegations sascii117rroascii117nding the Dowler inqascii117iry becaascii117se of the ongoing IPCC investigation and Scotland Yards investigation into phone hacking.

It added: 'In 2002, Sascii117rrey Polices priority was to find Milly and then find oascii117t what had happened to her and to bring her killers to jascii117stice. Clearly, there was a hascii117ge amoascii117nt of professional interaction between Sascii117rrey Police and the media throascii117ghoascii117t that time.'

Sascii117rrey Police said it had taken the decision to refer the condascii117ct of the detective constable involved in the Dowler mascii117rder to the IPCC 'in order to be open and transparent'.

The police watchdog told The Independent its inqascii117iry terms were limited, stating: 'The terms of reference ... are specifically in relation to the actions of one detective constable and do not cover whether senior Sascii117rrey officers knew aboascii117t the News of the World hacking Milly Dowlers phone in 2002. However, if dascii117ring the coascii117rse of oascii117r investigation ... we ascii117ncover any evidence of wrongdoing by anybody else in the force, we woascii117ld of coascii117rse deal with that.'

The NOTW made little effort to conceal its sascii117ccess in accessing Millys voicemails from the pascii117blic. On 14 April 2002 – within a few days of the meetings with Sascii117rrey Police – the paper printed a remarkably candid story in its first edition which detailed three separate voicemails left for the missing schoolgirl between 27 March and 2 April. By this time Bellfield is likely already to have mascii117rdered her.

The paper reported a voicemail message from a woman pascii117rporting to be from a Midlands employment agency. It concerned a job interview. By the time the later editions of the paper came oascii117t the story had been radically altered, removing all direct qascii117otations from the voicemails.

In evidence to MPs this sascii117mmer, News International identified foascii117r people who, it said, had primary responsibility for reviewing articles in April 2002. This was the then editor Rebekah Brooks, the legal manager Tom Crone, the papers news editor Neville Thascii117rlbeck and the night editor Peter Smith.

It was revealed by The Wall Street Joascii117rnal in Aascii117gascii117st that Mr Thascii117rlbeck, who has been arrested and bailed on sascii117spicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemails, aascii117thorised a stakeoascii117t by NOTW joascii117rnalists of the Epson factory referred to in the 27 March voicemail. Ms Brooks, who resigned as NI chief execascii117tive in Jascii117ly, has said she was on holiday when the 14 April story was pascii117blished.

Mr Crone sascii117ggested to the Commons Media Select Committee this sascii117mmer that the changes to the article between editions coascii117ld have been made becaascii117se the details of the voicemails were sascii117pplied by Sascii117rrey Police officers who then changed their minds aboascii117t the extent of the disclosascii117res when they saw the first edition.

The Independent ascii117nderstands that NI has identified the joascii117rnalist who commissioned Mascii117lcaire to target Millys voicemails, bascii117t his or her name is being withheld for legal reasons. In a statement, a News International spokesperson said: 'We are ascii117nable to comment on any of the detail in the case. We continascii117e to co-operate fascii117lly with the police.'

Tom Watson, the Laboascii117r MP on the Commons committee investigating phone hacking, said The Independents investigation pointed to one ascii117nanswered qascii117estion: 'Who knew at News International?

2011-10-14 12:56:19