News of the World registry. In 2006, reporters at the paper used private investigators to illegally gain access to hundreds of mobile phone voicemail accounts held by a variety of people of interest to the newspaper. In 2007 the paper's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, pleaded guilty to illegal interception of personal communication and was jailed for four months; the paper's editor, Andy Coulson, had resigned two weeks earlier. In 2009/2010, further revelations emerged on the extent of the phone hacking, and how it was common knowledge within the "News of the World" and its News International parent. According to a former reporter at the
2009–2011 News of the World phone hacking scandal investigations accounts. The "News of the World" denied "The Guardian"'s claims and its parent company, News Corporation, implored its competitor newspaper to share any evidence it had with police. Prescott in particular was outraged at the fact that the police did not inform him of the phone tapping, but Assistant Commissioner John Yates stated that there was no actual evidence that Prescott's phone had been tapped. Contrary to claims made by "News of the World" in 2007, "The Guardian" in July 2009 claimed that phone hacking activities were known to a range of staff at the tabloid including its then editor