Police are investigating whether the News of the World obtained details from the medical records of a well-known celebrity, it has emerged.
Hugh Grant told the Leveson Inquiry he believed his medical records had been obtained by tabloid newspapers. He is not thought to be the celebrity at the centre of the current police investigation. Photo: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images
6:33PM GMT 07 Dec 2011
Officers from Operation Weeting, the unit investigating phone-hacking, were contacted by the alleged victim who suspected the tabloid had illegally accessed a doctor’s report.
News International, which published the News of the World until it closed in July, said it was co-operating with the inquiry.
The new investigation follows claims by the actor Hugh Grant during his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media standards that at least one newspaper had published details about his health which he believed could only have come from leaked hospital records.
Mr Grant told the inquiry he believed two newspapers had “appropriated” his medical records “for commercial profit”.
The celebrity involved in the current inquiry does not want to be identified and is not thought to be Mr Grant.
The new probe is understood to have been triggered by claims made in a BBC Radio 4 documentary earlier this year that medical records of three well-known figures were obtained by newspapers. One former tabloid reporter told the programme, called News from Nowhere – how the papers got their stories, that the medical details of a football manager were read to him over the phone by a colleague.
Another said their newspaper had obtained doctors’ notes on a former soap star, and a third claimed to have seen information about a celebrity’s health which had been placed by a colleague on his desk.
News International, which published the News of the World until it closed in July, said it was co-operating with the inquiry.
The new investigation follows claims by the actor Hugh Grant during his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media standards that at least one newspaper had published details about his health which he believed could only have come from leaked hospital records.
Mr Grant told the inquiry he believed two newspapers had “appropriated” his medical records “for commercial profit”.
The celebrity involved in the current inquiry does not want to be identified and is not thought to be Mr Grant.
The new probe is understood to have been triggered by claims made in a BBC Radio 4 documentary earlier this year that medical records of three well-known figures were obtained by newspapers. One former tabloid reporter told the programme, called News from Nowhere – how the papers got their stories, that the medical details of a football manager were read to him over the phone by a colleague.
Another said their newspaper had obtained doctors’ notes on a former soap star, and a third claimed to have seen information about a celebrity’s health which had been placed by a colleague on his desk.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We can confirm that officers from Operation Weeting are looking into an allegation of unauthorised access to an individual's medical records.
“The matter came to police attention during the phone hacking investigation and at this time it is not known whether any criminal offences have been committed in relation to this material.”Officers are thought to be keeping an open mind as to whether they may have to broaden their inquiry into the obtaining of medical records to other alleged cases.
As well as the investigation into phone-hacking, Scotland Yard is also conducting an inquiry into computer hacking, called Operation Tuleta, and the Operation Elveden probe into allegations of corrupt payments to police officers.
Telegraph
“The matter came to police attention during the phone hacking investigation and at this time it is not known whether any criminal offences have been committed in relation to this material.”Officers are thought to be keeping an open mind as to whether they may have to broaden their inquiry into the obtaining of medical records to other alleged cases.
As well as the investigation into phone-hacking, Scotland Yard is also conducting an inquiry into computer hacking, called Operation Tuleta, and the Operation Elveden probe into allegations of corrupt payments to police officers.
Telegraph
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