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Phone-Hacking Trial Dan Evans

Phone-hacking trial: Cats, Cocaine and Diving in the Thames

By James Doleman

January 29, 2014 | 12 min read

  • Evans admits cocaine use while at News of the World
  • Even "office cat knew about hacking", witness tells court
  • Pay-as-you-go phones bought under name of Pete Beale
  • Divers checked Thames for disposed "burner phones"

When court resumed after lunch Timothy Langdale QC, representing Andy Coulson, continued his cross examination of prosecution witness and former News of the World journalist Dan Evans. You can find reports on his evidence in chief and the first part of his cross-examination here and here. Before he began, Mr Justice Saunders told the jury that the court may sit late on Friday as actress Sienna Miller is due to testify that afternoon by video link from Los Angeles.

Evidence: Daniel Craig's phone was hacked by Evans, the court heard

Langdale began by asking the witness about his claims that he played the tape of a voicemail from the phone of Daniel Craig to News of the World editor Andy Coulson. Evans told the court that he hacked the actor's voicemail on a Sunday evening from his home after receiving an email from a senior journalist complaining about his failure to deliver stories for the paper. Evans estimated that the date he played the tape to Coulson was 27 September 2005. Defence counsel asked the witness if before this date there had been a lot of material in the paper about Jude Law and Sienna Miller before Daniel Craig had been mentioned. The witness agreed that there had been a number of stories published about the couple and a selection of these were then shown to the jury.

The defence QC then questioned Evans on why he had left the Sunday Mirror to join the News of the World. In his statement to police, the witness had said he thought his career was being blighted through his use of the "dark arts" and as a result he was drinking too much and using drug,. He was in a "bad place." Langdale asked the witness if he had continued to use drugs while at the News of the World. Evans said that at that time he was taking cocaine "every couple of weeks". It was "nothing to be proud of", he added. Langdale asked that if it was hacking that was making him unhappy at the Sunday Mirror "why on earth would he move to the News of the World to do more?" Evans said he had been offered an investigative role there and had "been ambitious" which does not always bring out the best in people. "I was a young guy and I made mistakes," the witness told the jury.

Evans then told the court that the reason he got the job was because in relation to hacking "that's what Andy wanted". Langdale replied: "You have never suggested that before." The witness said: "It's clear from my statement," and that while he didn't want to keep hacking he was "not necessarily about to stand up to my new boss at the toughest newspaper in the world, getting monstered by executives is not my idea of fun." Mr Justice Saunders then suggested that defence counsel move on as "you have his answers".

The defence QC then put it to Evans: "You did not succeed at the News of the World as you were not very good at your job... you were a failed feature writer." Langdale suggested that it was Evans who was "keen on hacking" to which he replied: "It is hard to understand the pressure human beings can be put under in that job."

Copies of a list of hacking targets that Evans has previously said was emailed to him on his first day at the News of the World were then given to the jury. Langdale suggested that this was just a "long list of disorganised information that would be available to anyone in the features department."

"Absolutely not," Evans replied.

The defence QC asked about one name on the list, Jeff Brazier, whom the witness said was the husband of Jade Goody, a major subject of tabloid stories. Another name on the list was publicist Max Clifford, who Langdale suggested was a "pretty silly person to hack given all of the stories he could give to the paper". Evans disagreed, saying he was "an obvious person to target given his contacts", but confirmed he had no recollection of ever listening to any of Clifford's voicemails. Further names on the list included former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson, beside which Evans had written "attempted". These notes, the court heard, were added by Evans during police interviews. "What I can tell you is what I can tell you," the witness said, "I am here to help."

Evans was then asked about his own list of hacking information and if he had ever shown it to other journalists. The witness said he may have done but he generally had kept it folded up in his back pocket. His work on investigations was stymied as his manager would not allow him time to work on stories. "If it was not stood up in a couple of days they were not interested," he said. Langdale then asked why did he not leave the News of the World if he was so unhappy. Evans replied: "I didn't want to be sent away with my tail between my legs," adding that he had become a father and was worried about losing the money. Defence Counsel suggested: "There was nothing to stop you at least trying."

"There was nothing to stop me jumping off a bridge," Evans replied.

Langdale then asked why if phone-hacking was an "open secret" he needed a special space. Evans replied that he used a small office for the first couple of weeks but after that "I just did it at my desk". At any one time, the witness said, "there were three phones on my desk." Langdale pointed to a police statement where the witness had said he "ducked behind partitions" when hacking phones. "Perhaps I was just embarrassed," he replied, adding that knowledge of his activities was very widespread. "The office cat knew," he said. He had also seen other journalists "ducking behind their desks" and had thought "I know what you're up to". The witness called the suggestion that other journalists didn't know as "crass" and added: "You can't change the facts." Mr Justice Saunders said to Evans: "The rules here are you answer the questions asked," adding that the court would give him a break from the witness box in 10 minutes.

The defence QC then asked the witness about his decision to stop using pre-pay "burner" phones to hack voicemails, which could not be traced, and start using his office phone which could. Evans said there was pressure not to buy pay-as-you-go phones for budgetary reasons, and it was just the easier option. It was "perhaps the dumb option," he said, adding: "The truth is Andy Coulson knew everything that was going on in his watch."

"Is there anything else you want to say about Mr Coulson, Mr Evans?" the QC asked.

"Not at the moment," Eavans replied.

Landale suggested this made no sense and Evans replied: "In the warped world of newspapers," before Justice Saunders told him to stop and answer the question. "I thought, if they don't want to be careful, why should I?" Evans said, and Saunders advised the defence to move on to a new line of questioning.

The court was then shown an invoice for two mobile phones under the name Pete Beale. Evans replied that he had wanted to use a false name and the Eastenders actor had just "popped into his head". "I guess I flapped a bit," he added.

The court then took a short break.

When the cross examination resumed, Timothy Langdale returned to the issue of the pay-as-you-go phones bought by the witness to conduct phone-hacking. The advantage of these, the court was told, was that these could not be traced through billing data. Defence counsel asked again why he had stopped using them and Evans replied that it was difficult to get the top up cards through expenses, especially as he had a "bullying boss". Evans was asked if he had told anyone he was now using a more "risky method" to intercept voicemails. Evans said he did not as he had taken "an easy way to do it fitting into the more blasé attitudes to hacking at the News of the World".

The QC then asked the witness about what phones he owned while at the News of the World. As well as his company phone he also had a personal mobile which had the same number as the one he used at the Sunday Mirror. Evans said he paid line rental as he did not want to lose the number which had been his for many years and indeed was his number now. Langdale then asked about the witness's "double tap" method of accessing voicemails and asked if this was a risky method as someone could answer the line if the timing was wrong.

Evans said he sometimes used a direct dial number which took him straight into voicemail depending on which provider the target used. When he was finished with the burner phones, Evans said he thought he "broke them and binned them", unlike at the Sunday Mirror when he just "chucked them in the river". Langdale told the court that divers had checked the part of the river where Evans had said the phones were disposed of. Evans said he was not aware of that and said using his own phone to hack was "just stupidity". He also had another burner phone for investigations as criminals could "spin the phone" and track him down. "I was worried about my personal safety," Evans told the court.

Judge Saunders then asked what "spinning a phone" meant. Evans said that private investigation companies could get a name and address for a phone number and the News of the World used a company called ELI/TDI to carry out this sort of work. An email was then shown to the jury discussing the "latest on Jude and Sienna", stating "we have been watching the house, we have a bike on Sienna tonight". It also said "Dan Evans has taken special checks on Kelly Hoppin's phone". Langdale suggested that this was nothing to do with hacking but was contacting ELI-TDI for call data. "I certainly hacked her phone," Evans said, but agreed he may have also got call data from the company. Hoppin was a fashion designer and friend of Sienna Miller who later sued the News of the World over the interception of her voicemail.

Evans was shown his witness statement in relation to Hoppin's civil case in which he said he had used a system called "Cameo" to conduct an electoral roll search and observed her house for a number of hours. Evans confirmed this was correct as was his statement that the "Jude Law/Sienna Miller story was the only show in town" in 2005. Langdale asked about another part of the statement where Evans said he used "contacts close to Hoppin" to gather information. The witness said that part of his statement was untrue and his "source was her phone". Call data records where then shown to the court which the defence suggested showed he had only listened to Hoppin's voicemail for 1.30 seconds, which was not enough time to get any information.

"How could you know, from hearing a female in tears, that it was Sienna Miller?" Evans replied: "Perhaps it was a short message," but said he did not recall the exact content. Langdale put it to the witness: "That makes no sense at all," and suggested that the information about Miller "must have came from other sources."

Court then adjourned for the day.

All of the defendants continue to deny all of the charges. The trial continues.

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