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Slain U.K. girl's mom was targeted by tabloid
An October 2002 file photo Rebekah Brooks (then Rebekah Wade, editor of News of the World) standing next to Sara Payne, mother of murdered girl Sarah Payne, who died at the hands of a pedophile. (AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau/PA)
LONDON — The News of the World tabloid did more than cover the grisly details of the 2000 murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne at the hands of a pedophile.
The paper owned by Rupert Murdoch spearheaded a long and ultimately successful push to help launch Sarah's Law (similar to Megan's law in the U.S.) requiring more public disclosure about known sex offenders.
The cause of Sarah's mother, Sara Payne, and that of her charity organization, Phoenix Chief Advocates, was championed by the paper's former editor, Rebekah Brooks, who even gifted the girl's mother with a cell phone with which she could stay in touch with the paper.
The paper also promoted Payne's advocacy for children, calling her "brave" and "astonishing" as she fought for child protection, even after suffering a stroke.
British schoolgirl Sarah Payne, 8, who was murdered by a pedophile in 2000.
(Credit: AP Photo/Family photo via PA)In her column Payne made note of the hacking scandal that brought down the 168-year-old paper and admitted "there were rumours - which turned out to be untrue - that I and my fellow Phoenix charity chiefs had our phones hacked."
Now, it turns out, those rumors were likely true: Payne has been informed by Scotland Yard that she may have been hacked by that very paper.
According to The Guardian, police found evidence Payne was targeted by Glenn Mulcaire, a detective employed by the now-defunct tabloid. Personal details of Payne were found in his notes; it is unclear what information he may have obtained through hacking or if he successfully eavesdropped on her voicemails.
Mulcaire was jailed for six months in January 2007 after his conviction for intercepting voicemail messages by royalty, government figures and celebrities, including Prince William and Elle MacPherson. His name re-emerged when it was revealed NOTW had hacked and then deleted the voicemails of missing teenager Milly Dowler, who was later found murdered.
After news of the Dowler hacking broke - and before she resigned from Murdoch's News International - Rebekah Brooks issued a statement recalling her editorships at NOTW and The Sun which she said were defined by the papers' "battle for better protection of children from pedophiles and better rights for the families and the victims of these crimes," including the fight for Sarah's Law.
According to the Guardian, the evidence found among Mulcaire's effects points to the very phone that was given to Payne by Brooks.
Friends of Payne told the Guardian she is "absolutely devastated and deeply disappointed" at the news.
"We are all appalled and disgusted," a colleague said. "Sara is in bits about it."
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David Morgan David Morgan is a senior editor at CBSNews.com and cbssundaymorning.com.
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