LONDON – A Surrey police officer is to be investigated for allegedly giving information to the News of the Worldnewspaper in relation to the Milly Dowler murder inquiry, the police watchdog said yesterday.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission decided to investigate after a voluntary referral from Surrey police, it said in a statement.
Schoolgirl Milly Dowler (13) went missing in the London suburb of Walton-on-Thames in 2002. Her remains were found six months later.
Reports last month that a private investigator possibly working for the News of the Worldhad hacked into her mobile phone while police were searching for her, and deleted messages, giving the family false hope that she was still alive, caused outrage among the public.
It came after other allegations from politicians, royals and celebrities that their phones had been hacked, and led to News Corp, owner the 168-year-old tabloid, to shut it down and drop a $12 billion plan to take full control of pay TV operator BSkyB.
Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered a wide-ranging judicial review into the phone hacking scandal. – (Reuters)