Hackers 'targeted 7/7 bereaved'

Families of July 7, 2005 bombing victims in the UK have been told they may have been targeted by phone hackers as MPs prepare to debate the scandal.

The new claims come after police confirmed that the parents of murdered Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were contacted by officers on the News of the World hacking inquiry, and after allegations that the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler was hacked.

Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator employed by the Sunday tabloid who is alleged to have illegally accessed Milly’s voicemail messages after she went missing, has apologised for any hurt he caused.

Mulcaire, who made no direct reference to the hacking of the schoolgirl’s phone, said he had never intended to interfere with any police inquiry.

The pressure intensified last night as sources confirmed “several” bereaved families of those killed in the July 7 2005 bombings were feared to have been affected.

Graham Foulkes, whose 22-year-old son David was among the 52 people killed, was among those warned by a senior detective that they featured on a list of potential hacking victims.

He told BBC News channel that the thought of someone listening in to his phone calls was “just horrendous”.

News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks is likely to face new calls for her resignation at today’s three-hour emergency Commons session, when MPs will consider whether there should be a public inquiry into the saga.

Motor giant Ford said it was suspending advertising with the News of the World. Two other leading companies, Npower and the Halifax, confirmed they were also considering whether to continue advertising with the paper amid a rising tide of anger at its alleged conduct.

Ms Brooks has pledged her “full co-operation” with the police inquiry into the claims, which date back to her time as the paper’s editor.

She said she was “sickened” by the allegations and promised the “strongest possible action” against those responsible.

She insisted she had known nothing of the alleged actions of a private investigator working for the paper and made clear she had no intention of standing down from News International.

Her comments, however, did little to assuage the growing chorus of demands for her to consider her position and for a full-scale public inquiry into the conduct of the press and the way that it is regulated.

The condemnation was led by David Cameron who described the allegations that a private detective hacked into 13-year-old Milly’s voicemail messages while police were still trying to find her as “really appalling”.

“If they are true, this is a truly dreadful act and a truly dreadful situation,” he said. “What I have read in the papers is quite, quite shocking.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband said there should be a public inquiry once the police investigation was complete and he called on Ms Brooks to “examine her conscience” and consider her position.

Andy Coulson, until recently David Cameron’s director of communications, was drawn further into the row with claims that he had authorised payments to the police when he was editor of the News of the World.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said News International had passed emails to police appearing to confirm Mr Coulson’s involvement.

News International responded by acknowledging it had handed over new information.

It said in a statement: “As a result of media inquiries, it is correct to state that new information has recently been provided to the police.

“As News International and News Group Newspapers has reiterated many times, full and continuing co-operation has been provided to the police since the current investigation started in January 2011.

“Well understood arrangements are in place to ensure that any material of importance to which they are entitled is provided to them. We cannot comment any further due to the ongoing investigations.”

Meanwhile, it has been claimed that a senior Scotland Yard detective investigating the murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan was spied on by the News of the World.

Detective Superintendent Dave Cook was watched from a surveillance van outside his home and followed driving his children to school, Mr Morgan’s brother Alastair said.

News International said it was unable to confirm or deny the claims, which were first reported by Channel 4 News.

Amid calls for a public inquiry into the hacking scandal, Downing Street insisted that the “absolute priority” had to be the ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation, codenamed Operation Weeting.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg did not rule out ministers ordering a public inquiry at a future date.

“If there are wider issues which need to be looked at once the police investigation is complete, of course we can return to that,” he said.

The latest row erupted after The Guardian reported that Mulcaire – who was subsequently jailed for plotting to hack into the phones of royal aides – hacked into Milly’s mobile phone following her disappearance in 2002.

When the inbox was full, he was said to have deleted messages so that more could be recorded, giving her distraught family false hope that she was still alive and using the phone.

In a statement to the Guardian newspaper last night, Mr Mulcaire apologised for the “hurt” his actions had caused, and insisted he had not intended to interfere with a police investigation.

“I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done. I’ve been to court. I’ve pleaded guilty. And I’ve gone to prison and been punished. I still face the possibility of further criminal prosecution,” he said.

“Working for the News of the World was never easy. There was relentless pressure. There was a constant demand for results. I knew what we did pushed the limits ethically. But, at the time, I didn’t understand that I had broken the law at all.”