Bob and Sally Dowler, pictured here with daughter Gemma, will speak on MondayThe parents of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and actor Hugh Grant are to be among the first witnesses to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.
Sally and Bob Dowler are expected to describe the heartbreak caused by the News of the World hacking into their daughter's phone when she was missing.
The inquiry is looking into "culture, practices and ethics" of the media.
Also set to give evidence this week are celebrities including Sienna Miller, JK Rowling and Steve Coogan.
The families of crime victims, journalists and lawyers are also expected at the inquiry next week to describe their experiences of media intrusion.
On Monday, the Dowlers will talk about the impact of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire deleting some of the schoolgirl's voicemail messages, giving them false hope she was still alive.
Grant, who will also appear on Monday, is expected to tell the inquiry about how paparazzi have hounded the mother of his baby daughter, who last week gained a High Court injunction prohibiting media harassment of her and her child.
Other witnesses on Monday will be lawyer Graham Shear, who represents celebrities that have had their phones hacked and who is also a victim himself of the illegal practice, and writer Joan Smith, whose phone was allegedly hacked because of her relationship with MP Denis MacShane.
'Mentally raped'On Tuesday, comedian Steve Coogan, supermodel Elle Macpherson's former business adviser Mary-Ellen Field, former Premiership footballer Garry Flitcroft and Margaret Watson, whose daughter Diane was stabbed to death at her Glasgow school, will give evidence.
Gerry McCann, father of missing child Madeleine, and who has described how his wife Kate felt "mentally raped" when the now-defunct News of the World published her highly-personal diary, is to give evidence on Wednesday.
Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne's ex-wife Sheryl, journalist Tom Rowland and lawyer Mark Lewis, who represents many phone hacking victims and was followed by investigators for the tabloid, will also appear.
Sienna Miller, JK Rowling and Max Mosley will speak on Thursday.
Self regulationPrime Minister David Cameron set up the judge-led inquiry in July in response to revelations that the News of the World hacked 13-year-old Milly's phone.
The first part, which formally began last Monday, is looking at the culture, practices and ethics of the press in general.
The second part, examining the extent of unlawful activities by journalists, will not begin until detectives have completed their work and any prosecutions have concluded.
Hugh Grant has spoken out against media intrusion into his private lifeLast week, inquiry chairman Lord Justice Leveson said in his opening remarks that he regarded the freedom of the press as fundamental in a democracy. He said the inquiry would be about "who guards the guardians".
During its first three days, the inquiry heard from representatives of news organisations, alleged victims of press intrusion, the Metropolitan Police and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
They discussed the the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), the print media's current system of self-regulation.
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and representatives of News International and Associated Newspapers backed the scheme.
However a lawyer for Northern and Shell, which owns the Daily Express and Star newspapers and has opted out of the PCC, said the inquiry should consider examples of voluntary regulation of the press elsewhere in the world.
The inquiry also heard that seized notebooks belonging to Mulcaire - who was jailed in 2007 for phone hacking for the NoW - suggested 28 journalists at the newspaper could have made requests to him, however the former newspaper's owner, News International, disputed this.
Transcripts of the hearings are available on the Leveson Inquiry website.
Previous Article
Post a Comment