News of the World ‘told police that Milly Dowler’s phone was hacked’

The News of the World told police it had hacked the phone of missing British schoolgirl Milly Dowler and wrote a story based on her voicemail messages which incorporated a comment from the police, a court heard yesterday.

Former managing editor Stuart Kuttner explained how the tabloid had accessed the 13-year-old’s voicemail messages in 2002 and offered police the information as a possible lead, prosecutors said.

Milly was later found murdered, and the revelation that her phone was among hundreds hacked by the News of the World prompted owner Rupert Murdoch to shut down the Sunday tabloid amid a huge outcry in Jul 2011.