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  1. Media Law
December 5, 2011

McCartney says news organisations hacked his phone

By Dominic Ponsford

Sir Paul McCartney has told The Times that he believes several news organisations may have hacked his phone.

According to the paper police have also shown the former Beatle evidence that his phone was hacked.

Last week the Met Police revealed that it has evidence former private investigator for the News of the World Glenn Mulcaire targeted the voicemails of as many as 5,700 people.

In an interview with Caitlin Moran published in The Times on Saturday, McCartney said: “There would be stories about how I was going on holiday to the Bahamas or whatever and I would know I hadn’t told anyone. And the worst thing is that then you suspect everyone – your PA, who you thought was a great girl – ‘What if?’. At the time of the divorce, I realised there was quite a possibility of many people hacking me for various reasons.”

Interest around McCartney’s private life peaked at the time of his divorce from Heather Mills in 2008.

He said: “So I used to talk on the phone and say, ‘If you’re taking this down, get a life’. It is a pity not to be able to talk freely on a private call.

‘I tend not to say much on the phone now. If I leave a message, it’s benign. You edit yourself according to the new circumstances of the new world. I think it would be quite good to get some sort of laws.”

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McCartney also bemoaned the effect of paparazzi photographers.

He said: “Do you know what really annoys me? I’d like to be able to go on holiday and not have to hold my belly in for two whole weeks. I saw some guy on the beach the other week, playing in the sand, belly hanging out over his shorts, and I was so envious.”

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