News

News

Kuttner: I only heard of NOTW Milly Dowler hacking from news reports

18/12/2013

By Martin HickmanStuart Kuttner, a senior executive at News of the World, told police he had only heard about the paper's hacking of Milly Dowler from news reports.Mr Kuttner, managing editor until 2009, said at a police interview in August 2011 that his knowledge of the case was: "Only what I've seen in the newspapers...It sounds on the face of it quite appalling, but I don't know anything about it," he said in the interview on 30 August 2011, shortly after the paper's closure.Asked his involvement in the NoTW's coverage of the missing schoolgirl, Mr Kuttner could only recall meeting a senior officer to discuss offering a reward.Had he written any emails?, asked detective constable Andrea Fletcher. "It was eight, nine, ten years ago. I don't recall," Mr Kuttner said. "But if you say there's an email I sent to X then I'll say 'fine'."Detective Constable Fletcher then read to him his email to Surrey police of 20 April 2002 offering the News of the World's "tape recording" of a message left on Milly's phone.Mr Kuttner accepted that he must have written the email, but added: "I don't recall writing it."Detective Constable Fletcher challenged him: "You made direct reference to the police to the fact that you were in possession of a voice recording..." Mr Kuttner responded: "I don't have a detailed recollection of this."A few moments later, he said: "I don't know now, nine years on, how the paper had this tape and information...I have no memory of it at all."At the next police interview on 9 September 2011, Mr Kuttner declined to answer any further questions. In a prepared statement read, he registered his "shock and distress" at his police interviews, describing them as "long and gruelling sessions" and added that he had always striven to maintain high standards in the newspaper industry.He denies conspiring to hack phones. The trial continues.

Download the full report:

Download report

Queries: campaign@hackinginquiry.org

related Posts

Notes from the Campaign Trail: August 2026 Update
Personal reflections from Jacqui Hames on a period of political upheaval — and hope for the new Prime Minister
8/1/26
News
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