THE HEAD of the Leveson Inquiry has warned he is "extremely concerned" witnesses will feel intimidated over giving evidence on British press conduct following hostile reporting of actor Hugh Grant's testimony on Monday by the Daily Mail.
The actor had said an untrue report in the Mail on Sundayalleging he was having an affair with a "plummy-voiced" British woman living in Los Angeles could only have come after someone had misunderstood his private mobile phone messages.
Clearly furious, the Daily Mailcompletely denied reporters from Associated Newspapers ever hacked voicemails, accusing Grant – one of the loudest critics of the British tabloids – of "mendacious smears driven by his hatred of the media".
Neil Garnham, representing the Metropolitan Police at the inquiry, said the police believed witnesses should be able to offer opinions to the inquiry “without fear” of being accused of lying in the newspapers the following morning.
Barrister David Sherborne, who is representing 51 alleged victims of phone-hacking, said the Mailhad deliberately launched a personal attack upon him: "This wasn't comment – this was an allegation of fact," he said.
The judge indicated he may call Daily Mailjournalists to appear before the inquiry to explain yesterday's leader and press statement, though Associated's lawyer, Jonathan Caplan, said Grant had made "extremely serious" allegations without any opportunity of reply for the newspaper.
On the opening day of the inquiry, Judge Leveson warned newspapers he would not tolerate intimidation of witnesses, and also issued a coolly-worded warning yesterday: “I’m extremely concerned about ensuring that the arguments relating to this inquiry are conducted here, not elsewhere.
“Consideration ought to be given to that sentence, and I will wait to see. I’m anxious not to reach any inappropriate conclusions but I would be unhappy if it was felt that the best form of defence was always attack,” he said.
Actor and comedian Steve Coogan said the News of the Worldhad twice tried to "sting" him, once when a woman called him from editor Andy Coulson's office to trap him into revealing private details during a tape-recorded conversation in 2002.
Two years later, the News of the Worlddid "sting" him after it discovered he had been having an affair. He confirmed some details of the story in a negotiated bid to keep out the most embarrassing details, but the tabloid subsequently reneged on the arrangement, publishing everything.
Meanwhile, accountant Mary Ellen Field, who once worked for supermodel Elle McPherson, told the inquiry she had lost her job and saw her health deteriorate after she was wrongly blamed for leaking confidential information.
This information is now known to have been the fruits of phone-hacking for the News of the Worldby private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, but Ms Field said McPherson had pressured her to go to a clinic in Arizona for alcohol treatment. "It was a grade one psychiatric hospital with men with guns parading around. For the first 10 days you're in this hospital where there's no plugs in the hand basins in case you drown yourself," she said, adding the clinic quickly discharged her convinced she did not have a drink problem.