Murdoch tabloid private eye delivers hacking names

A private detective jailed for illegally intercepting voicemail messages on behalf of a journalist at one of Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids on Friday gave lawyers the names of the people he says ordered him to carry out the phone hacking. Glen Mulcaire's lawyer, Sarah Webb, said no details would be released before legal moves by her next week to prevent their publication while a police probe continues into allegations of phone hacking by the now closed News of the World newspaper.
Disclosure of the names would add pressure on News International, the British newspaper arm of Murdoch's News Corp and shed further light on how widespread phone hacking was at the tabloid. Mulcaire, jailed in 2007 along with paper's royal reporter Clive Goodman, had been ordered to hand over the details by a court judge. Webb said the document containing the names had been delivered late on Friday to lawyers representing actor Steve Coogan, who had sought the disclosure from Mulcaire.
She would not say how many names were contained in the document. News International had maintained until recently that phone hacking was limited to a single rogue reporter. Coogan, represented by lawyers Schillings, believes his phone voicemail messages were hacked and is suing News International. Webb said the document would formally be lodged at London's High Court on Tuesday, following a public holiday on Monday.
She said Schillings had agreed not to disclose the names before legal attempts to block publication. "In conjunction with the Metropolitan Police we at the moment believe that the names, in the interest of the administration of justice, should not be released at present. The matter will be clarified next week," Webb told Reuters.
She said there was a danger that publication could prejudice any criminal prosecutions launched as a result of the investigation by London's police service. Goodman and Mulcaire were convicted in 2007 for illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides and five other figures including the model Ellie Macpherson.