SCANDAL

Ex-Columnist: Piers Morgan Knew About Phone Hacking

While first police officer arrested.

A former columnist for the Daily Mirror alleged Wednesday that CNN’s Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror for nine years, that the top editors at the tabloid knew and approved of the widespread practice of phone hacking. “I think [phone hacking] was seen as a slightly underhand thing to do but not illegal,” said James Hipwell, who was fired from the Mirror in 2000 and later jailed for illegal share dealings linked to his columns. Morgan testified Tuesday that he did not know about the phone hacking going on under his watch, either at the Mirror or at the News of the World, the tabloid closed earlier this year due to its history of phone hacking. Morgan admitted to listening to a voicemail by Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills but refused to name his source in getting that voicemail. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Scotland Yard arrested a 52-year-old woman believed to be a royal protection officer over payments made to journalists.