Dowlers ‘may get £2m for hacking’

19 September 2011 Last updated at 12:44 ET

News of the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone led to the closure of the News of the World

News International is close to agreeing a financial settlement with the family of murdered school girl Milly Dowler as a result of the phone hacking scandal, the BBC understands.

It is believed the deal is likely to involve a donation of a seven figure sum to charity and the Dowler family would receive a payment of about £2m.

In July it emerged her phone was hacked on behalf of the News of the World.

News International and the Dowlers’ solicitor have declined to comment.

The revelations, in July, that a private investigator had hacked into the phone after Milly went missing in 2002 and deleted messages, giving the family false hope that she was still alive, brought intense pressure on News International, which responded by shutting the paper down.

Levi Bellfield was jailed for life earlier this year for murdering the 13-year-old.

BBC correspondent June Kelly said the amount of money being suggested could be a record for such a case.

Meanwhile, the attorney general’s office has said he must consent to charges being brought under the Official Secrets Act in the phone-hacking leak probe.

The Metropolitan Police is looking at possible breaches of the act in relation to leaks to the Guardian newspaper about Milly Dowler’s phone being hacked.

Police want it to reveal its sources.

But even if police find enough evidence to bring a charge under the act, the attorney general still has to decide if prosecuting is in the public interest.

The Guardian has said it will resist the “unprecedented legal attack” by the Met Police.

Misconduct

A spokesman for Attorney General Dominic Grieve’s office said: “It is a matter for the police to decide how best to carry out any investigation.

“If the police provide evidence that would support a charge under section five of the Official Secrets Act the attorney general’s consent would be required.

“If that stage is reached, the attorney general, with the DPP (director of public prosecutions), will consider whether there is sufficient evidence and whether the public interest is in favour of bringing a prosecution.”

The Met has applied for a production order against the Guardian and one of its reporters “in order to seek evidence of offences connected to potential breaches relating to Misconduct in Public Office and the Official Secrets Act”.

Lib Dem MP Don Foster, the party’s culture spokesman, said on Sunday that Mr Grieve should use his discretion to rule that invoking the Official Secrets Act was not in the public interest.

“I understand the attorney general has the opportunity to use this power,” Mr Foster told the Guardian.

“He should use it and say this is not in the public interest.”

The Metropolitan Police’s Operation Weeting is investigating claims of phone hacking at the News of the World.

According to the paper last week, police are due to go to the Old Bailey in London on Friday, in an attempt to force the handover of documents relating to sources for a number of articles.

— ’re ’s , . : A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.