GUILTY OF PHONE HACKING

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2013 :: RMTnews 13 Just before the start of the News of the World phone hacking trial, a small group of participants in the scandal pleaded guilty as charged. One of them was a man called Neville Thurlbeck. Thurlbeck had risen to the rank of chief reporter at the News of the World throughout the period when hacking was rife. It was Thurlbeck who signed off the contract with Glenn Mulcaire, the “private investigator” responsible for hacking the phone of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. But it was Thurlbeck who was also responsible for running a smear operation against RMT and our general secretary Bob Crow. The paper had mounted a major surveillance and blagging operation against this union back in 2011 which included lurking in the shadows with a long-range lens while the general Secretary was on a private holiday. It was crystal clear at the time that details of the Bob Crow’s movements could only have been obtained through blagging and hacking of private calls and information. All of this information was passed on by the union when Bob Crow gave evidence to the Levenson Inquiry. To this day there has never been any explanation of the full extent of the Murdoch presses shadowy campaign to smear this union and its officials. But what we do know is that the self-confessed hacker Mr Neville Thurlbeck was right at the heart of it with his network of crooks on hand to do his dirty work. As we went to press Thurlbeck was awaiting sentence. Needless to say, despite Leveson and the current trial, the union remains on a permanent state of alert to take on and challenge any remaining members of the gutter press who seek to do us damage. Guilty of phone hacking NEVILLE THURLBECK THE MAN WHO SMEARED RMT