MP link emerges in phone-hacking scandal

Former Labour MP for Reading West is named alongside former Prime Minister as News International "victim"

THE former MP for Reading West has emerged as being among the figures at the centre of the data-hacking scandal.

Martin Salter, Labour MP for the constituency from 1997 until he stood down in 2010, was yesterday (Monday) named in files obtained by the Guardian newspaper which detail information being fed from the police national computer (PNC) through an intermediary to a network of private investigators.

Mr Salter has been named alongside the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the subject of PNC checks, which were sold on to private investigators for sums between £40 and £20 a time.

The Guardian reported that Mr Salter had been warned in 2003, but the files date back to September 13, 2000, around the time he had angered Rebekah Brooks, former News of the World editor and current chief executive of News International.

The News of the World, which folded on Sunday after 168 years as a result of phone hacking allegations, had led a campaign for Sarah's Law following the high-profile murder case involving eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who was killed by Roy Whiting, a convicted sex-offender who had been released from prison.

Mr Salter had refused to support the paper's charge for controlled access to the Government Sex Offenders Register (SOR) which would allow parents access to the names and addresses of sex offenders living in their area.

He said at the time that a website supporting the calls for Sarah's Law led to another website which promised vigilante violence against anyone it suspected of being on the SOR, and he said that this showed the dangers of allowing SOR access to the general public.

On September 24, 2000, News of the World readers were urged to humiliate Mr Salter for his stance, and he later spoke of his disgust at what he perceived as “foul and personal attacks” after being placed on the newspaper's “enemy-list”.

Mrs Brooks is currently embroiled in the midst of the phone-hacking controversy, and the emergence of the connection to Mr Salter now link her to another facet of the discord surrounding News International.

Former PM Mr Brown is said to have been targeted by the same data hackers as well as phone hackers and it has been reported this week that News International newspapers had acquired personal information relating to the fact that his son suffered from cystic fibrosis.

Mr Salter told newburytoday.co.uk today (Tuesday) he would not be conducting interviews as it may prejudice any legal action he may wish to take.