News of the World royal phone hacking scandal failures of the police investigation would go on to form part of the wider scandal in 2011. In August 2006, the "News of the World"s royal editor, Clive Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family by accessing voicemail messages, an offence under section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. On 26 January 2007, both Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to four and six months imprisonment respectively. On the same day, it was
Metropolitan Police role in the news media phone hacking scandal for phone hacking. The settlement remained secret until it was reported by "The Guardian" on 8 July 2009 in one of the three articles relating to phone hacking published that day. Days later, Max Clifford, another of the eight victims named in the 2006 indictment of Mulcaire, announced his intentions to sue. In March 2010, News International agreed to settle his suit for £1,000,000. These awards encouraged other possible victims and their solicitors to explore possibilities, resulting in more and more queries to the Metropolitan Police about whether their names were on Mulcaire's lists. Responses from the Met were difficult