Sir Alex Ferguson and Alan Shearer calls were hacked
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Sir Alex Ferguson and Alan Shearer calls were hacked
The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, and the former Newcastle United manager Alan Shearer are among those whose private telephone messages were recorded by a private investigator working for the News of the World, according to sources familiar with the police investigation.
Both men are said to have left messages on the mobile phone of Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, who sued the newspaper last year.
Others from the world of football whose messages were collected from Taylor's phone are believed to include a detective inspector who was investigating an alleged crime involving a Premier League player; journalists from other newspapers, including the News of the World's sister paper, the Sun; and two lawyers who specialise in working with footballers.
Messages that were intercepted are said to have referred to the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger; medical bills incurred by the former England player Paul Gascoigne; the former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp; and a prominent Premier League player who had a cocaine problem.
The Guardian revealed that Taylor was paid more than £700,000 in damages and costs by the News of the World's owner, Rupert Murdoch's News Group, to settle his legal action without a public hearing.
The settlement followed a decision by the judge who was dealing with Taylor's case to order Scotland Yard to disclose part of its inquiry into the case of Clive Goodman, the News of the World's royal reporter who was jailed in January 2007 for his part in hacking into the mobile phones of staff in the royal household.
Two other figures from the world of football also sued and were paid a further £300,000.
guardian.co.uk