More phone-hack victims suspected

Senior officers said an analysis of documents first seized in 2005 combined with new information has led them to take a second look at whether celebrities who were originally told they had not been targeted may in fact have fallen victim to intrusion.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said although there remained no firm evidence these people’s voice mails were hacked into, this was now an “important and immediate” new line of inquiry and police were taking “urgent steps” to contact potential victims and warn them of the development.

The Met reopened an inquiry into the actions of staff at the News of the World almost two weeks ago, amid a steady flow of new revelations about the practice of intercepting the voice messages of high-profile people.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, heading up the new inquiry, said: “We will build on the previous commitment to all those victims whose phones we have evidence to believe may have been hacked by establishing or renewing contact with them.

“We’ll be as open as we can and show them all the information we hold about them, while giving them the opportunity to tell us anything that may be of concern.

“In time, we will go beyond this group of individuals and make contact with everyone who had some of their personal contact details found in the documents seized in 2005.”

Last month Ian Edmondson, the News of the World’s head of news, was sacked after evidence emerged he was linked to the hacking of mobile phones.

The Met has endured a torrent of criticism over its handling of the case, which led to the conviction of the newspaper’s royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire in January 2007.

Solicitor Mark Lewis, who represents some of the alleged victims, has accused the Met of being “deliberately obstructive”.

The case has also led to the resignation of David Cameron’s former spin doctor Andy Coulson, who was previously editor of the News of the World.