[July 05, 2011] British tabloid accused of hacking murdered girl's mobile phone Tweet LONDON, Jul 05, 2011 (dpa - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A long-running phone hacking scandal in Britain involving tabloid newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch took a macabre twist Tuesday amid allegations that a private investigator intercepted a mobile phone of a teenager after she was abducted and killed in 2002. A solicitor acting for the parents of Milly Dowler, who was murdered aged 13, confirmed Tuesday that they were suing the News of the World newspaper over claims that a private investigator working for the newspaper hacked into the schoolgirl's phone after she went missing. Solicitor Mark Lewis said the "heinous and despicable" actions gave the Dowler parents the "false hope" that their daughter could still be alive after voicemail messages on her phone were deleted in the days after she vanished. Reports said that Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the News of the World at the time, illegally accessed the teenager's phone messages after she disappeared. As detectives searching for her topped up the phone, Mulcaire allegedly deleted voicemail messages to make room for more after the inbox filled up. Lewis said the alleged actions, added "distress to tragedy" for the girl's parents and could also have jeopardized the police investigations. A 43-year-old was last month given two life terms for the abduction and murder of the schoolgirl in March, 2002. The Dowler parents were informed of the phone hacking allegations ahead of the trial by Scotland Yard, which is leading the hacking probe. To see more of dpa, go to http://www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html Copyright (c) 2011, dpa, Berlin Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]