News

News

Union chief tells Leveson about blagging and surveillance by journalists

25/01/2012

A trade union leader has spoken to the Leveson Inquiry about being targeted by a private investigator.Bob Crow, of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport, told the inquiry about a Mail on Sunday story published in 2003, featuring a photograph of Crow on the back of his assistant’s scooter.He accused private investigator Steve Whittamore of “blagging” confidential information from the DVLA.Crow said: “The issue is a non-story as far as I'm concerned. The issue to us is how they obtained the information."Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, said the information had been obtained by Whittamore, who then passed it on to the Mail on Sunday.Crow said police were investigating whether his phone had been targeted by a private investigator on behalf of a newspaper, but said he had no proof of phone hacking.Jay said a letter from News International's legal representatives confirms Crow was placed under surveillance in January 2011. Crow told the inquiry that a private investigator followed him on a holiday to the Caribbean.He also described being doorstepped by Sun reporters in 2009, and said someone claiming to be a journalist working for the Sunday Times searched through bins outside a RMT meeting to retrieve a copy of the agenda.

Download the full report:

Download report

Queries: campaign@hackinginquiry.org

related Posts

Mandy Garner to Andy Burnham: We Deserve Better
In an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Mandy Garner asks him to turn his warnings about a 'dangerous' lack of accountability into action — on the press, the justice system and public inquiries.
7/24/26
News
'What I Experienced Was Pure Evil': Why Tulisa Is Launching the 'Fix the Press' Campaign
Hacked Off backs Tulisa Contostavlos as she launches her 'Fix the Press' campaign and petition for independent press regulation.
7/22/26
News
Jacqui Hames: The Mail has not been exonerated. Evidence of unlawful behavior remains, and the need for Leveson 2 is as strong as ever.
To people like Paul Dacre, and his colleagues at the Daily Mail and The Telegraph, press freedom means the freedom to publish falsehoods, disinformation and private information about anyone whose lives, they believe, will titillate their readers and sell them more newspapers.
7/8/26
News