Content deleted Content added
AJHingston (talk | contribs) →See also: added Leveson Inquiry as this is examining Operation Motorman in detail |
RjwilmsiBot (talk | contribs) m CiteCompletion, dates: 1, locations: 6, works/pubs: 1, authors: 2, titles: 1, using AWB (7927) |
||
Line 5:
The ICO first became aware of the scale of the problem in November 2002, when an ICO investigator attended a search under warrant of John Boyall,<ref name=WhatPricePrivacyNow>{{cite news|title=What Price Privacy Now?|url=http://www.ico.gov.uk/news/current_topics/what_price_privacy_now.aspx|accessdate=20 August 2011|newspaper=Information Commissioner's Office|date=December 2006}}</ref> a private investigator in Surrey. Documents found on the premises revealed the misuse of data from the Police National Computer. This discovery led to two investigations: Operation Motorman, conducted by the ICO and led by [[Merseyside Police]] Inspector Alec Owens; and [[Operation Glade]], conducted by the Metropolitan Police.<ref name=Whatprice/>
The ICO later obtained search warrants for the Hampshire office of a private detective Steve Whittamore.<ref name=Guardian21Sept>{{cite news |title=Newspapers used me as fall guy, says convicted private eye |author=James Robinson |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/21/newspapers-fall-guy-steve-whittamore |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 September 2010 |accessdate=13 September 2011 |location=London}}</ref> A huge cache of documents revealed, in precise detail, a network of police and public employees illegally selling personal information obtained from government computer systems. The personal information that Whittamore obtained from his network was passed on to journalists working for various newspapers including the ''[[News of the World]]'', the ''[[Sunday Times]]'', the ''[[Observer]]'', the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' and the ''[[Daily Mirror]]''.<ref name=Guardian21Sept/> At least 305 different reporters have been identified as customers of the network.<ref>{{cite news |title=Read all about it: The secret dossier of lawbreaking that spells trouble for Rupert Murdoch...and David Cameron |author=Brian Brady and James Hanning |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/read-all-about-it-the-secret-dossier-of-lawbreaking-that-spells-trouble-for-rupert-murdochand-david-cameron-2077170.html |newspaper=The Independent on Sunday |date=12 September 2010 |accessdate=13 September 2011 |location=London}}</ref>
In February 2004, four suspects plead guilty to conspiring to commit misconduct in public office: Wittamore and Boyall, retired police officer Alan King, and Paul Marshall, a police communications officer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jonathan Rees: private investigator who ran empire of tabloid corruption |author=Nick Davies |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/11/jonathan-rees-private-investigator-tabloid |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 March 2011 |accessdate=13 September 2011 |location=London}}</ref> The four were given [[conditional discharge]]s. Other members of Whittamore's network were due to stand trial but the case collapsed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Operation Motorman: the full story revealed |author=Nick Davies |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/31/press-privacy-information-commmissioner |newspaper=The Guardian |date=31 August 2009 |accessdate=13 September 2011 |location=London}}</ref>
In September 2011, former policeman Alec Owens, the original lead investigator of Operation Motorman, criticised the senior management of the ICO for the way in which the investigation was handled. He stated that investigators were prohibited from interviewing journalists and alleged that this was because the management "were frightened". He said that had the team been allowed to question journalists the use of phone hacking might have been uncovered earlier.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exposed after eight years: a private eye's dirty work for Fleet Street |author= |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/exposed-after-eight-years-a-private-eyes-dirty-work-for-fleet-street-2354360.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=14 September 2011 |accessdate=14 September 2011 |location=London |first1=Ian |last1=Burrell |first2=Mark |last2=Olden}}</ref> In November 2011, just a few days before Owens was due to give evidence to the [[Leveson Inquiry]], his home was raided under warrant by [[Cheshire Police]]. Before leaving under police caution for an interview at [[Wilmslow]] police station, Owens informed [[Brian Leveson|Lord Leveson]] by phone of the raid.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063610/Leveson-inquiry-News-World-journalists-computers-grinder.html | location=London | work=Daily Mail | title=News of the World journalists' computers were destroyed by 'putting them through a grinder and smashing them up' | date=19 November 2011}}</ref>
== References ==
| |||