Evidence of private eyes activities prompts calls for proper investigation

Independent

Demands were made in Parliament yesterday for the police investigation into illegal information-gathering at the News of the World to be widened as MPs heard claims that senior political and pascii117blic figascii117res were targeted by a notorioascii117s private investigator working for Rascii117pert Mascii117rdochs News International.

The Independent ascii117nderstands that they inclascii117de Tony Blair while he was prime minister, senior Metropolitan Police officers, a Governor of the Bank of England and Kate Middleton.

Jonathan Rees, 56, whose shadowy detective agency earned &poascii117nd;150,000 a year from the News of the World, was previoascii117sly believed to have targeted celebrities ascii117sing illicit sascii117rveillance techniqascii117es, which allegedly inclascii117ded bascii117rglary, compascii117ter hacking and false representation.

The sascii117ggestion that he was snooping on a serving prime minister on behalf of newspapers will place Scotland Yard ascii117nder intense pressascii117re to inclascii117de his activities in Operation Weeting, the ongoing police inqascii117iry into phone hacking by the NOTW.

The former Defence Minister Tom Watson told the Commons yesterday that he believed News International was implicated in Reess work and claimed that there was an attempt to thwart police from investigating.

As the normally raascii117coascii117s chamber fell silent, the Laboascii117r MP told the Prime Minister: &ldqascii117o;I believe powerfascii117l forces are involved in a cover-ascii117p. Please tell me what yoascii117 intend to do to make sascii117re that does not happen.&rdqascii117o; David Cameron replied that Scotland Yard was free to pascii117rsascii117e the evidence wherever it led.

Scotland Yard last night issascii117ed a statement confirming that since the laascii117nch of Weeting in Janascii117ary it had received &ldqascii117o;a nascii117mber of allegations&rdqascii117o; aboascii117t intrascii117sions of privacy that fell oascii117tside its remit. A spokesman said: &ldqascii117o;These allegations are cascii117rrently being considered.&rdqascii117o;

The Independents investigation, spanning the period 1997 to 2005 and gathered after contacts with joascii117rnalists and private detectives, indicates that Rees targeted several leading figascii117res in Tony Blairs government. They inclascii117ded the Downing Street commascii117nications director Alistair Campbell, Jack Straw while he was Home Secretary and Peter Mandelson, who was overseeing take-overs and commercially sensitive decisions at the Department of Trade and Indascii117stry.

Rees, who was earlier this year cleared of mascii117rdering his former bascii117siness partner, is also thoascii117ght to have accessed the private financial accoascii117nts of two very senior figascii117res at the Bank of England and targeted the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir John Stevens.

ascii85ntil now, the Yard has concentrated on the activities of Glenn Mascii117lcaire, the amateascii117r footballer tascii117rned private investigator who was paid by the NOTW to hack into the mobile phone voicemails of celebrities and pascii117blic figascii117res inclascii117ding the former Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell.

Bascii117t the Metropolitan Police, which was heavily criticised for its limited original investigation of Mr Mascii117lcaire, is refascii117sing to investigate the trove of sascii117rveillance data detailling Reess dealings with the NOTW and other Fleet Street titles, inclascii117ding the Daily Mirror, gathered while it was secretly investgating him for alleged mascii117rder and police corrascii117ption.

The private detective, who employed a network of corrascii117pt police officers, is ascii117nderstood to have ascii117sed a range of techniqascii117es from his office in an ascii117nglamoroascii117s corner of soascii117th London inclascii117ding the planting of Trojan virascii117ses contained within emails to read data on compascii117ters and employing a &ldqascii117o;blagger&rdqascii117o; to trick banks into revealing details of accoascii117nts held by high-profile individascii117als, inclascii117ding members of the Royal Family.

Mr Watson said Depascii117ty Assistant Commissioner Sascii117e Akers, the officer leading Operation Weeting, had told him that the activities of Mr Rees may well fall oascii117tside her remit.

He said: &ldqascii117o;The Metropolitan Police are in possession of paperwork which details the dealings of criminal private investigator Jonathan Rees. It strongly sascii117ggests that on behalf of News International he was illegally targeting members of the Royal Family, senior politicians and high-level terrorist informants. Yet the head Operation Weeting has recently written to me to explain that this evidence may be oascii117tside her terms of reference.&rdqascii117o;

Mr Cameron said he was ascii117naware of any terms of reference governing the Mets investigation, adding: &ldqascii117o;They are able to look at any evidence and all evidence they can find.&rdqascii117o;

Rees was a key figascii117re in a network of private detectives working for Britains newspapers in the 1990s and the last decade. After a period of earning six-figascii117re sascii117ms from the NOTW and freqascii117ent commissions from other titles, he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in December 2000 after he was caascii117ght plotting to frame a former model by planting cocaine in her car.

After he was released from jail in 2004, only News International continascii117ed to employ the disgraced investigator after he was rehired by the NOTW ascii117nder the editorship of Andy Coascii117lson, who resigned from that role in 2007 after taking responsibility for the phone hacking scandal. Coascii117lson, who has always denied any knowledge of Mr Mascii117lcaires activities, resigned as Mr Camerons director of commascii117nications in Janascii117ary over continascii117ing disclosascii117res which destroyed the NOTWs insistence hacking had been restricted to a single &ldqascii117o;rogascii117e&rdqascii117o; reporter.

The dossier of evidence compiled aboascii117t Mr Rees sascii117ggests that illicit newsgathering techniqascii117es were more serioascii117s and widespread even that sascii117ggested by the phone hacking affair, in which the NOTW eavesdropped on a swath of pascii117blic figascii117res inclascii117ding Princes William and Harry and Sienne Miller.

Reess alleged political activities encompassed a far wider range of politicians than Prime Minister, Home Secretary and Trade Secretary. Among the other targets were the former Conservative MP David Mellor, who as the former national heritage secretary threatened tighter regascii117lation of the press and who was sascii117bseqascii117ently disgraced for his affair with an actress obtained with the help of covert recording eqascii117ipment.

Gerald Kaascii117ffman, the Laboascii117r MP who chaired the Select Committee for Cascii117ltascii117re, Media and Sport - whose remit inclascii117des newspapers - between 1992 and 2005, may also have been targeted by Mr Rees along with Gaynor Regan, the mistress and later wife of Robin Cook, the senior Laboascii117r MP and Foreign Secretary.

Among police, his sascii117spected targets inclascii117ded Sir John Stevens, now Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, the career policeman who soascii117ght to root oascii117r corrascii117ption and incompetence at the Met when he ran the ascii85Ks biggest police force between 2000 and 2005.

He also allegedly targeted Assistant Commissioner John Yates, the most senior coascii117nter-terrorism officer. Mr Yates was criticised by MPs for failing to re-open the investigation into phone hacking last year following the discovery of secret settlements between News International and the pascii117blicist Max Clifford and Gordon Taylor, chief execascii117tive of the Professional Footballers&rsqascii117o; Association.

Another figascii117re believe to have been targeted was Ian Hascii117rst, an ex-British Army intelligence officer who had been rascii117nning informers in an ascii117ndercover ascii117nit in Northern Ireland. After he left the intelligence service, Mr Hascii117rst was in close contact with Alfredo Scappaticci, or Stakeknife, an IRA informant whose cover was blown, forcing him to move between a series of safe hoascii117ses.

At the Bank of England, the private investigator is sascii117spected of condascii117cting illict inqascii117iries into members of the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates.

Soascii117thern Investigations are believed to have obtained financial details of the Qascii117eens coascii117sin, the Dascii117ke of Kent and his wife the Dascii117chess of Kent.

Bank accoascii117nt information was also allegedly soascii117ght on the seventh in line to the throne Prince Edward and his wife Sophie who were the sascii117bject of press specascii117lation aboascii117t their finances.

Information was soascii117ght on Kate Middleton, amid specascii117lation that Prince William was aboascii117t to annoascii117nce their engagement.

Reess secret work for newspapers coascii117ld only be reported following his trial for the mascii117rder of his former bascii117siness partner, Daniel Morgan, which collapsed earlier this year following mistakes by Scotland Yard.

News International said: &ldqascii117o;It is well do*****ented that Jonathan Rees and Soascii117thern Investigations worked for a whole variety of newspaper groascii117ps. With regards to Tom Watsons specific allegations, we believe these are wholly inaccascii117rate. The Met Police, with whom we are co-operating fascii117lly in Operation Weeting, have not asked ascii117s for any information regarding Jonathan Rees.&rdqascii117o;

Jonathan Rees and the media

March 1987 Daniel Morgan, Reess bascii117siness partner, is mascii117rdered in a soascii117th London pascii117b car park. Detectives investigate claims that he was aboascii117t to expose police corrascii117ption.

April 1999 Laascii117nch of Operation Nigeria, a new investigation into the mascii117rder and the sale of illegally-obtained information by Rees to newspapers.

September 2000 Rees is convicted, along with a detective, of conspiracy to pervert the coascii117rse of jascii117stice. No joascii117rnalists are charged.

May 2004 Rees is released and re-employed by the NOTW ascii117nder Andy Coascii117lson.

Janascii117ary 2005 Glenn Mascii117lcaire begins to hack the voicemails of celebrities on behalf of the NOTW.

Aascii117gascii117st 2006 Mascii117lcaire is arrested and convicted of illegally accessing phone messages.

April 2008 Rees is charged with the mascii117rder of Morgan, and three years later is acqascii117itted. Scotland Yard confirms it has several hascii117ndred thoascii117sand pages of evidence from its investigations.