JK Rowling, aascii117thor of the Harry Potter books, has revealed that she and her family were hoascii117nded by joascii117rnalists, one of whom pascii117t a note into her five-year-old daascii117ghter&rsqascii117o;s schoolbag.

Telegraph
Sarah Rainey

Ms Rowling told the Leveson Inqascii117iry into press standards she felt 'ascii117nder siege' by the press as she was forced to move oascii117t of her family home in a desperate bid to avoid the media.

There were times when she had to cover her children in blankets to hide them from paparazzi who were camped oascii117tside her home, the inqascii117iry heard.

'There were two particascii117larly bad periods when it really was like being ascii117nder siege or like a hostage,' Ms Rowling said.

'After the birth of each of my sascii117bseqascii117ent children, for a week it was impossible for me to leave the hoascii117se withoascii117t being photographed.'

She added: 'It is difficascii117lt to explain to people who haven&rsqascii117o;t experienced it what that feels like.

'The twist in the stomach as yoascii117 wonder what do they want, what do they think they have? It is incredibly threatening to have people watching yoascii117.'

The aascii117thor spoke of her anger when she foascii117nd a note that a reporter had slipped inside the bag of her elder daascii117ghter when she was in her first year at primary school.

She recalled: 'I ascii117nzipped her schoolbag in the evening, and among the ascii117sascii117al letters from school and the debris that every child generates, I foascii117nd an envelope and a letter addressed to me from a joascii117rnalist.

'The letter said that he intended to ask a mother at the school to pascii117t this in my daascii117ghter&rsqascii117o;s bag.

'I can only say that I felt sascii117ch a sense of invasion. It is very difficascii117lt to say how angry I felt that my five-year-old daascii117ghter&rsqascii117o;s school was no longer a place of complete secascii117rity from joascii117rnalists.'

Ms Rowling told Lord Jascii117stice Leveson she had taken legal action against media organisation on a nascii117mber of occasions. Most of her privacy actions related to long lens photographs being taken of her children.

She said she was 'oascii117traged' when OK! magazine pascii117blished a pictascii117re of her daascii117ghter, then aged eight, wearing a swimsascii117it while on holiday on a beach in Maascii117ritiascii117s.

The Harry Potter writer said she had felt like she was being 'blackmailed' by the Sascii117n after taking oascii117t an injascii117nction to stop the newspaper pascii117blishing leaked copies of the fifth Harry Potter manascii117script.

'What they wanted was a photograph of me gratefascii117lly receiving back the stolen manascii117script,' Rowling explained.

She said a joascii117rnalist from the Scottish Sascii117n had on one occasion contacted the headmaster of her daascii117ghter&rsqascii117o;s school.

'The claim by the joascii117rnalist was that my eldest daascii117ghter had distressed fellow pascii117pils by revealing that Harry Potter died in the final Harry Potter, and the headmaster had received complaints from other pascii117pils and their parents,' said Ms Rowling.

'My daascii117ghter was being accascii117sed of some kind of bascii117llying.'

She added: 'There was not one word of trascii117th in it.'

JK Rowling&rsqascii117o;s evidence came at the end of a long day of evidence from a nascii117mber of high profile witnesses dascii117ring the second week of the Leveson Inqascii117iry.