Phone-hacking inquiry names core participants

THE parents of Madeleine McCann, actor Hugh Grant and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling were named yesterday as core participants in the first stage of the inquiry into the British phone-hacking scandal.

They are among a group of “victims” who will be represented by a barrister and have the right to seek to cross-examine witnesses and make opening and closing statements.

The group also includes Formula 1 boss Max Mosley; Chris Jefferies, the former landlord of alleged murder victim Jo Yeates; ex-England footballer Paul Gascoigne; and Bob and Sally Dowler, the parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.