Lawmaker: Police probe London Times email hacking

[February 02, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- Police are investigating alleged email interception by Rupert Murdoch's Times of London newspaper, a British lawmaker who helped lift the lid on tabloid phone hacking said Thursday.

Labour legislator Tom Watson said police have confirmed they are investigating email hacking by the paper.

Police are looking into phone hacking, police bribery and claims of computer hacking by Murdoch papers, in investigations stemming from the revelation that the now-defunct News of the World tabloid illegally listened to mobile phone voice mails in its quest for stories.

The investigation has expanded to take in claims of illegal payments by police to staff of the News of the World and its sister tabloid, The Sun.

Now the more upmarket Times has acknowledged that a former reporter tried to intercept emails in 2009 to unmask an anonymous policeman who blogged as NightJack.

Editor James Harding last month told Britain's media ethics inquiry that the reporter had acted on his own and had been reprimanded.

Murdoch's News Corp. also has admitted that the News of the World hacked the emails as well as the phone of Chris Shipman, the son of serial killer Harold Shipman.

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed Thursday that computer hacking investigators "are in contact with Mr. Watson in relation to specific issues he wishes to raise," but would not give further details.

Watson is a member of Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee, which also is investigating press wrongdoing.

[Associated Press]

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