- Clive Goodman tells court he hacked voicemails of Kate, William and Harry
- 56-year-old jailed in 2007 for illegally accessing voicemails of royal aides
- Prince William's phone 'was hacked 35 times' and Harry's was nine times'
- Duchess allegedly first hacked by Goodman, of Surrey, in December 2005
Admission: Clive Goodman (pictured today) said he had hacked the royals while working at the tabloid
Kate Middleton's phone was hacked 155 times, Prince William's was illegally accessed 35 times and Harry's messages on nine occasions, the Old Bailey in Central London was told.
Goodman was forced to admit that his hacking while at the newspaper was much wider than he had previously disclosed, after being shown his phone records from 2005 and 2006.
The 56-year-old was jailed in 2007 for illegally accessing the voicemails on royal aides' mobiles.
He told the court: 'There has been no intention to deceive you or anybody else about my involvement in hacking. If anyone asks me an open question, I will give an open answer.'
The Duchess was allegedly first hacked on December 12, 2005, by Goodman after he was handed her voicemail details by private detective Glenn Mulcaire.
He intercepted her voicemails repeatedly on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and again on Boxing Day of 2005, the court was told. He allegedly started hacking Prince William in January 2006 and then began intercepting Prince Harry's voicemails the same year.
Goodman said: 'I'm saying I hacked Prince Harry and I am being open and honest. It is not a question of being forced to accept this, I've never been asked.'
He said the last hack of Prince Harry was on May 5, 2006, while he last hacked Kate Middleton on August 7, 2006, the day before he was arrested.
Asked how he got her details, he said: 'Glenn Mulcaire offered them - she was a figure of increasing importance around the royal family. There were discussions about her and Prince William marrying, moving in, settling down. She started to receive semi-royal status around the Royal Family.'
Allegations: Kate Middleton and Prince William
on the day of their graduation at St Andrew's University in June 2005.
The Duchess was said in court to have been first hacked in December that
year by Goodman
Goodman, of Addlestone, Surrey, had previously admitted hacking royal aides Paddy Harverson, Jamie Lowther Pinkerton and Helen Asprey.
During the trial he has admitted hacking into the voicemails of another royal aide, Mark Dyer, and also Tom Parker Bowles.
Goodman today confessed to hacking the young royals, as well as Kate Waddington, a PR consultant to the Duchess of York, and Michael Fawcett, an aide to the Prince of Wales.
He said all the details for the hacks came from Mulcaire. But Goodman denied conspiring with Mulcaire to hack the phone of Hugh van Cutsem, a friend of Prince Charles.
Meanwhile, the court was told Goodman was shown text messages sent between himself and Mulcaire, including one which mentioned a 'spook'.
He said Goodman had introduced him to a man he claimed was a spy in a bid to back up a claim that the Buncefield Oil Explosion was a terrorist attack.
'Glenn has this theory based on security services that it was caused by a terrorist group', he said. 'It was never established, never proven, and the official enquiry turned out to show it was wrong.
'I went to a bar across the road, and Glenn told me he was accompanied by somebody, to give credence to his terrorist theory, which would have been a very good story if true, he texted with "you are meeting a current spook".'
Asked by Timothy Langdale QC, defending former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, why he had not disclosed the hacking victims earlier, Goodman said he had never been asked about them before.
Trial: Goodman returned to the hacking trial of
former editors Rebekah Brooks (left), Andy Coulson (right) and five
others to finish giving his evidence after he fell ill on March 21. All
seven defendants deny the charges
'I'm not on trial for phone hacking, and I completely agree I hacked these people's phones', he said. 'But they were never put to me individually.'
Duchess: Goodman intercepted Kate's voicemails
repeatedly on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and again on Boxing Day of
2005, the court was told
Of his previous testimony, Goodman said: 'I didn't specifically recall. There was a great deal of threat from the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service], I was facing further hacking charges.
'The CPS has now made it clear there are no further charges I will be facing.'
He added: 'I didn't say I had forgotten it, I said it was hard to recall. I was honest and open about hacking as I could possibly be.
'I've never been asked these questions before, and if anyone would like to question me about it, they are welcome. They would get a straight answer as indeed you are getting right now.'
Goodman said he revealed his own role in phone hacking in
October 2005, when asking Coulson for approval for a new project to intercept
Royal aide voicemails with Mulcaire.
'Glenn Mulcaire was - like it or hate it, make a judgement
about what he did and what I did - valuable and resourceful', he said. 'Virtually
every story that went through the paper was ground through Glenn Mulcaire's
phone hacking mill.'
Goodman said he told Coulson that Mulcaire was his partner
on the royal hacking, and would be paid £500 a week for his efforts.
Mr Langdale asked: 'Did you tell him who they were?' of the
proposed Royal aides being targeted. Goodman
replied that he had told him the names.
Mr Langdale pressed: 'Did you tell him you yourself were
able to hack, given the right information? He knew you could do it yourself?'
Royal: Prince Harry's messages were illegally accessed on nine occasions, the Old Bailey has been told
Goodman said: 'It's obvious I could do it. At this time,
Andy Coulson was no stranger to hacking and actually used hacking material
himself with David Blunkett. I told him the phones could be hacked.'
Goodman said Coulson agreed to the project because Mulcaire
had the time to monitor the phones and voicemails.
'There were
discussions about her [Kate] and Prince William marrying, moving in, settling
down. She started to receive semi-royal status'
Clive Goodman
Clive Goodman
He added: 'In the great scheme of things, £500 is a lot of
money outside newspapers, but inside a national newspaper it would barely be
the photocopying bill for a week.'
Goodman returned to the hacking trial of Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and five others to finish giving his evidence today after he fell ill on March 21.
Before Coulson's lawyer resumed his cross-examination, judge Mr Justice Saunders told the jury that the court had been ‘waiting for Mr Goodman to be fit enough to continue to complete his evidence’.
He went on to summarise Goodman's evidence so far for the jury. Goodman denies two counts of conspiring with Coulson and others to commit misconduct in public office.
All seven defendants in the case deny the charges against them. The trial continues.
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