Lori Campbell's husband arrested in Hackgate Conspiracy

We all remember Lori don't we - she who reported Robert Murat to the PJ (and of course a very Pro McCann Journalist).

Her husband Ross Hall (ex NOTW Journalist) has just been arrested.

Read here.

"A 30-year-old man who has been arrested by police investigating the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World is believed to be Ross Hall, a former journalist at the paper who now works for a financial PR firm.

Hall, who worked under the name Ross Hindley until September 2006, is believed to be the man who transcribed the "for Neville" email that was sent to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. It has become a pivotal piece of evidence in the phone-hacking affair.

That email contained a transcript of messages left on a mobile phone belonging to Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association. The "Neville" referred to in the email is believed to be Neville Thurlbeck, the paper's chief reporter.

There is a dispute among senior executives at News International, which owned the paper until it was closed in July, over who knew about the "Neville" email.

The paper's former editor Colin Myler and its lawyer Tom Crone insist they told News International chairman James Murdoch about the existence of the email in 2008, before the company decided to settle a legal action which Taylor had brought against the paper. But Murdoch denies that he knew about the email.

Taylor received an out-of-court settlement of £700,000, and agreed not to discuss the case.

Hall is the nephew of Phil Hall, who edited the News of the World from 1995 to 2000 and is now a PR consultant.

The Metropolitan police said a 30-year-old man was arrested by appointment on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages and perverting the course of justice at a north London police station on Friday. He was later released on bail until January next year."

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He was working for FD Public Relations and his blurb on their website (gone now) said.

"Ross currently helps clients facing scrutiny. Using his deep understanding of tabloid investigative techniques, he advises on how to neutralise media attacks"

Was just posting the same thing Gilly.


[snipped]
When Myler told the PCC that Hindley was "a junior reporter who has since left the newspaper", he was again being misleading, to say the very least. After April 2005 Hindley had more than 50 bylines in the paper until 17 September 2006 – two weeks after Clive Goodman was charged – when they stopped. In the following issue, 24 September 2006, a new byline appeared – that of "Ross Hall", who then had more than 100 credits in the paper up to April 2009, including on big stories such as the Madeleine McCann disappearance.
Hall and Hindley are of course one and the same person – currently on a round-the-world trip with his/their fiancée. Let's hope they remember to send Colin Myler a postcard from New Zealand!

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[snipped]

And Ross Hindley/Hall's partner? Lori Campbell.

Four continents & 22 countries in a year.. Sunday Mirror

By Lori Campbell 16/05/2010

- Extract -

With the credit crunch taking hold and the country heading for recession, many thought I was mad to give up my job. But I felt it was the perfect time.

First, though, I had to convince my partner Ross, a reporter on another paper, that it was a good thing to do. When I finally got home on that rainy night, I tested the water by casually mentioning to him how great it would be to pack our bags, jump on a plane and travel the world.

He shocked me by calling my bluff, saying: "There's no point in just talking about it, let's do it!" So over a few glasses of wine we started to add up what savings we had... and it dawned on us that it wasn't an unrealistic dream.

We wondered if we were brave enough to give up our home, the security of our jobs and leave our friends and families for a year.

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Twitter

Qaudrille Rocki Stone
SteelMagnolia: #McCann : #Hackgate. Ross Hall husband of Lori Cam... [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
23 minutes ago

veniviedivici nobby-Lobby
Phil Hall PR consultants rep refuses to confirm or deny arrest of Ross Hall. Phil Hall was approched by #McCann #scam back in 2007 !
20 minutes ago


Here's article about Phil Hall (don't know if it is the same people) that Ross Hall is now working for - although it is a financial PR firm so maybe the same............................

The McCanns connection to Phil Hall...

McCanns' PR steps down The Guardian
Ben Dowell
Thursday 13 September 2007 15.51 BST



Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of the missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann, are looking for a new full-time public relations adviser after their current PR, Justine McGuinness, decided to step down.

Ms McGuinness has told journalists she is planning to cease acting as the McCann's PR on Saturday, September 15.

However, she is believed to have assured the McCanns that she will stay in place if a replacement cannot be found.

A spokeswoman for the McCanns' solicitors, Kingsley Napley, confirmed that Ms McGuinness was stepping down from her role as the couple's PR.

One reason Ms McGuinness has given to journalists for her departure is that the McCanns have been ordered to remain silent because of the changing nature of the investigation and she feels she cannot help them further.

Another is Ms McGuinness's workload - she has been "working 18 hours days for a number of weeks now" according to a source familiar with the situation.

The couple are thought to be looking for a "big hitter", according to one source familiar with the situation, to work as their full-time PR representative as the investigation into their daughter's disappearance enters a new phase.

Ms McGuinness, a 37-year-old former Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, was selected through a headhunter to oversee the PR campaign to aid the search for the couple's daughter.

But it is now thought that the McCanns are looking for a different kind of PR advice after they became suspects in the inquiry into their daughter's disappearance and media coverage has become more negative.

The couple are understood to be consulting a number of senior industry figures about their media strategy, with the leading candidate thought to be former News of the World and Hello! editor Phil Hall.

Mr Hall today admitted to MediaGuardian.co.uk that he had been "speaking regularly" to the couple since their daughter disappeared on May 3 in the Algarve in Portugal.

The newspaperman turned PR executive said: "I have spoken to them a number of times and offered advice and [help] assessing the situation and what they are doing going forward and whether they need someone full time or part time."

Asked if he was being lined up to be their full time PR representative, Mr Hall said: "We are discussing the way forward. I have not been hired ... and I gather they are talking to other people."

Asked if he was being paid by the McCanns for his advice he insisted that he was not, adding: "What, when they call up, do I ask them, 'how much?' Of course not. They are very nice people."

Before Ms McGuinness's arrival in Portugal, the McCanns' media relations were handled by a team from the British government led by Sheree Dodd, a former tabloid journalist.

Then Clarence Mitchell, an ex-BBC news presenter, became the voice of the McCanns before Ms McGuinness took over.

Friends and family have also been quoted in newspapers, including Mr McCann's sister Philomela, who is quoted in today's Sun newspaper describing moves by the Portuguese authorities to examine Kate McCann's private diary as "just another way to stick the knife in".

If Mr Hall or a figure like him is hired, it will mark a new phase of the couple's campaign to prove their innocence.

It will also be the second of two high-profile so-called PR "fire-fighting" signings for Mr Hall.

He was taken on by Sir Paul McCartney's estranged wife Heather when newspaper interest in her separation from the former Beatle reached fever pitch in the summer of 2006 and she was targeted for a number of negative stories.

Mr Hall moved into PR in 2005 when he quit his job as Trinity Mirror's editorial director, after losing out to Richard Wallace in the race for the Daily Mirror editor's chair.

He joined Trinity Mirror in 2003 from the Press Association, where he headed the news agency's contract publishing arm.

He quit his job at PA in January 2003 to join Trinity Mirror as the editorial director.

Mr Hall edited the News of the World for five years before leaving in 2000 to make way for Rebekah Wade. He became the editor of Hello! in January 2001 and helped land a number of scoops, including the rights to Victoria Beckham's official autobiography, Learning to Fly.

The McCanns' legal firm, Kingsley Napley, declined to comment on Mr Hall's professional involvement with its clients.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

McCanns in PR talks with Phil Hall PR Week
Staff Brand Republic, PR Week UK
14 September 2007, 10:47am

LONDON - The embattled parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann are talking to Phil Hall, former News of the World editor turned PR man, about handling their media relations.

The news comes as Gerry and Kate McCann face intense media pressure following their return form Portugal after being officially named as suspects by the Portuguese police in the disappearance of their daughter.

Phil Hall Associates is thought to be one of a number of big-name PR firms being considered by the McCanns, who have been in the spotlight now since their daughter disappeared on May 3.

Hall would replace Justine McGuinness, a former Liberal Democrat candidate, who has worked with the McCanns since June.

Since returning from Portugal at the weekend, the storm surrounding the couple has intensified along with speculation about the fate of Madeleine.

Hall is the former editor of the News of the World and Hello! magazine, who made the switch to PR and has represented a sting of high-profile clients including Heather Mills during the break-up of her marriage to Sir Paul McCartney. He has also represented Millwall and West Ham football clubs.

Hall was editor of the News of the World for five years until 2000, when he was replaced by the current editor Rebekah Wade. He then moved to Hello!, before a stint at the Press Association's contract publishing division and then, in 2003, he joined Trinity Mirror in an editorial development role.

Whoever takes on the McCanns case will have to deal with global media interest. The story has sparked unprecedented media attention, which has turned increasingly negative in recent days.

In the last week they have been under siege at their home in Rothley in Leicestershire, with reporters tracking their every move.

Hall said yesterday that he had been talking to the McCanns, but said he had not been hired.

Prior to McGuinness working with the McCanns, the family had help from the British government, which was headed by former tabloid journalist Sheree Dodd, who was followed by a former BBC news journalist Clarence Mitchell.

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Several people played important roles in ensuring that Robert Murat was pulled in for questioning on Monday 14 May 2007 and made a suspect, but especially:

1) staff from Control Risks Group and various members of the security services including MI5, who told Portuguese police that Murat fitted the profile of the liklely abductor to the extent of '90%'

2) Jane Tanner, who was 'adamant' that Murat was the man she had seen carrying a child at 9.15pm on Thursday, 3 May 2007 (quite possibly with some prior 'prompting' from staff of Control Risks Group and Leicestershire Police).

But Ross Hall/Hindley's partner Lori Campbell played her part too, suddenly revealing in major articles in the British press all sorts of dubious aspects of his background, criticising his conduct as a translator, and generally pointing the finger at this 'one-eyed monster'.

Maybe Lori Campbell and Ross Hall/Hindley will soon be included in our 'Rogues' Gallery'.

How strange

He shocked me by calling my bluff, saying: "There's no point in just talking about it, let's do it!" So over a few glasses of wine we started to add up what savings we had... and it dawned on us that it wasn't an unrealistic dream.
We wondered if we were brave enough to give up our home, the security of our jobs and leave our friends and families for a year.

Who else had a few glasses of wine ?
Who else had to add up what savings they had to see if they could pay the mortgage ?
Who else gave up the security of his, and her job ?
Whose brother also gave up the security of his job ?
Who else left their friends and family for many months, (which might have turned into a year if they had not been made arguidos ?

Strange parallels ?

Just genuine coincidences I think PeterMac - no limited company with worldwide donations to keep them afloat!

By Ross Hall, 21/12/2008
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THE thrill of Christmas clear on her beaming face, Madeleine McCann plays to the camera in touching new footage appealing for help over her disappearance.

The previously unseen video clips have been released by Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry as they face their second Christmas without her.


For the the first time viewers will hear Maddie's voice as she is shown speaking of her new pink shoes, dancing in a fairy outfit and riding a bike.


It was mostly filmed at Christmas 2006'the last time the McCanns were all together as a family over the festive period. The video shows Maddie sitting on the stairs of their home in Rothley, Leics, flanked by younger twins Sean and Amelie.


Maddie, three and a half at the time, encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: 'Clap your hands together and one, two, three.'

Difficult
She then holds up her present and says: 'These are my shoes.' Behind the camera, dad Gerry asks what colour they are. Maddie replies: 'Pink.'


She then leaps up and dances around, waving her shoes. The short film uses Snow Patrol's hit Chasing Cars as its soundtrack. Kate and Gerry decided not to appear in the video but say on it: 'Please help bring our daughter back. This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third.'



Madeleine was nine days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from her familys holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3 last year as her parents dined with friends.



The McCanns will spend this Christmas with the twins and close family and friends.



Their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: 'Producing a video like this is itself making Christmas more difficult.



'But they are doing it because they believe Madeleine is still out there and they want that piece of information.'


Our reward still on offer


THE News of the Worlds £1.5million reward for Madeleines safe return still stands.

Tony Bennett wrote:Several people played important roles in ensuring that Robert Murat was pulled in for questioning on Monday 14 May 2007 and made a suspect, but especially:

1) staff from Control Risks Group and various members of the security services including MI5, who told Portuguese police that Murat fitted the profile of the liklely abductor to the extent of '90%'

2) Jane Tanner, who was 'adamant' that Murat was the man she had seen carrying a child at 9.15pm on Thursday, 3 May 2007 (quite possibly with some prior 'prompting' from staff of Control Risks Group and Leicestershire Police).

But Ross Hall/Hindley's partner Lori Campbell played her part too, suddenly revealing in major articles in the British press all sorts of dubious aspects of his background, criticising his conduct as a translator, and generally pointing the finger at this 'one-eyed monster'.

Maybe Lori Campbell and Ross Hall/Hindley will soon be included in our 'Rogues' Gallery'.

Rogues Gallery must be huge by now!  Will there be any more space??  

Isn't it incredible how many ne'er do wells are associates of theirs yet the general public are still prepared
to buy their victim status?

PeterMac wrote:How strange

Very.  What a tangled web this all is.  The husband of the woman who first reported Murat to the police was a NOTW "journalist" ?  Jez Wilkins worked on Crimewatch?

And they are pretty much the only high profile people NOT to have had their phones hacked.  They even hacked Milly Dowler's phone FFS.  I hope they DID hack the McCann's phones, and one day, soon, they will release all the recordings.

Jeremy's wife had worked for Crimewatch; he is a freelance film maker.

He has worked with Donal MacIntyre who has made some unintentionally hilarious statements about the McCann case.

Naz_Nomad wrote:

PeterMac wrote:How strange

Very.  What a tangled web this all is.  The husband of the woman who first reported Murat to the police was a NOTW "journalist" ?  Jez Wilkins worked on Crimewatch?

And they are pretty much the only high profile people NOT to have had their phones hacked.  They even hacked Milly Dowler's phone FFS.  I hope they DID hack the McCann's phones, and one day, soon, they will release all the recordings.

Okay, so say RB's intentions were entirely wholesome, and she was "just trying to find out what happened to a missing child and keep the case in the public eye for the parent"  [not really her words] does anyone believe a newspaper boss would just follow a story out of the goodness of her heart?  From an industry the gave us the maxim "If it bleeds it leads!" and "Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story" "What you don't know make up!" and other such gems???  More likely this story was picked up with as it sold papers and might just have had the potential for a massive "reveal" at a later date. Just my thoughts and opinions.

Naz_Nomad wrote:

PeterMac wrote:How strange

Very.  What a tangled web this all is.  The husband of the woman who first reported Murat to the police was a NOTW "journalist" ?  Jez Wilkins worked on Crimewatch?

And they are pretty much the only high profile people NOT to have had their phones hacked.  They even hacked Milly Dowler's phone FFS.  I hope they DID hack the McCann's phones, and one day, soon, they will release all the recordings.

McCanns were warned off re phones very early on by Clarence Mitchell!

sar wrote:

Naz_Nomad wrote:

PeterMac wrote:How strange

Very.  What a tangled web this all is.  The husband of the woman who first reported Murat to the police was a NOTW "journalist" ?  Jez Wilkins worked on Crimewatch?

And they are pretty much the only high profile people NOT to have had their phones hacked.  They even hacked Milly Dowler's phone FFS.  I hope they DID hack the McCann's phones, and one day, soon, they will release all the recordings.

Okay, so say RB's intentions were entirely wholesome, and she was "just trying to find out what happened to a missing child and keep the case in the public eye for the parent"  [not really her words] does anyone believe a newspaper boss would just follow a story out of the goodness of her heart?  From an industry the gave us the maxim "If it bleeds it leads!" and "Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story" "What you don't know make up!" and other such gems???  More likely this story was picked up with as it sold papers and might just have had the potential for a massive "reveal" at a later date. Just my thoughts and opinions.

I find it incredible that the McCanns' phones weren't hacked. Almost unbelievable. If they had have been it would have meant Brooks very possibly did have information which could have meant a review was, shall we say, pertinent as a vehicle for future revelations.

Obviously, Brooks was found innocent of all charges. But I often wondered if, had the outcome appeared in doubt at any stage, the possibility that phone hacking had led directly to the solving of the world's most controversial disappearance, would the method that procured that outcome be viewed in a more lenient light by the world?

All musings now ultimately irrelevant as Brooks was innocent and the McCanns not hacked, of course.

Dee Coy wrote:I find it incredible that the McCanns' phones weren't hacked. Almost unbelievable.

They had a Media Monitoring Unit helping them from the beginning as a Government priority.

I'm sure the MMU would have advised them about phone security.

Dee Coy wrote:

sar wrote:

Naz_Nomad wrote:

PeterMac wrote:How strange

Very.  What a tangled web this all is.  The husband of the woman who first reported Murat to the police was a NOTW "journalist" ?  Jez Wilkins worked on Crimewatch?

And they are pretty much the only high profile people NOT to have had their phones hacked.  They even hacked Milly Dowler's phone FFS.  I hope they DID hack the McCann's phones, and one day, soon, they will release all the recordings.

Okay, so say RB's intentions were entirely wholesome, and she was "just trying to find out what happened to a missing child and keep the case in the public eye for the parent"  [not really her words] does anyone believe a newspaper boss would just follow a story out of the goodness of her heart?  From an industry the gave us the maxim "If it bleeds it leads!" and "Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story" "What you don't know make up!" and other such gems???  More likely this story was picked up with as it sold papers and might just have had the potential for a massive "reveal" at a later date. Just my thoughts and opinions.

I find it incredible that the McCanns' phones weren't hacked. Almost unbelievable. If they had have been it would have meant Brooks very possibly did have information which could have meant a review was, shall we say, pertinent as a vehicle for future revelations.

Obviously, Brooks was found innocent of all charges. But I often wondered if, had the outcome appeared in doubt at any stage, the possibility that phone hacking had led directly to the solving of the world's most controversial disappearance, would the method that procured that outcome be viewed in a more lenient light by the world?

All musings now ultimately irrelevant as Brooks was innocent and the McCanns not hacked, of course.

Add to this the further musings that The Times may be sued by the McCanns and the Times may have to pay out some money to the McCanns (which is peanuts) and I see nothing but a whitewash.

Crumbs, aquila, that's a thought. Just purporting a theory, as ever:

What if the hacking case needed an ace up it's sleeve just as a fall-back if the trial looked like being lost? What if that ace was no longer needed as the desired outcome was reached, now would be a perfect time for those who may have been damaged if it had been necessary for the ace had been wielded to be, err, compensated? Cue issuing of a libel writ and subsequent out of court settlement.

"Get down, Shep, we didn't need to do it after all." {Shep catches tossed buscuit.}

Daft speculation, but would explain "worried McCanns" and "Times"ings.

Dee Coy wrote:Crumbs, aquila, that's a thought. Just purporting a theory, as ever:

What if the hacking case needed an ace up it's sleeve just as a fall-back if the trial looked like being lost? What if that ace was no longer needed as the desired outcome was reached, now would be a perfect time for those who may have been damaged if it had been necessary for the ace had been wielded to be, err, compensated? Cue issuing of a libel writ and subsequent out of court settlement.

"Get down, Shep, we didn't need to do it after all." {Shep catches tossed buscuit.}

Daft speculation, but would explain "worried McCanns" and "Times"ings.

thanks Dee Coy for the lovely imagery! 

  just returned from hot climes. Brain a bit dissolved in the impossible heat.

pennylane wrote:

Naz_Nomad wrote:

PeterMac wrote:How strange

Very.  What a tangled web this all is.  The husband of the woman who first reported Murat to the police was a NOTW "journalist" ?  Jez Wilkins worked on Crimewatch?

And they are pretty much the only high profile people NOT to have had their phones hacked.  They even hacked Milly Dowler's phone FFS.  I hope they DID hack the McCann's phones, and one day, soon, they will release all the recordings.

McCanns were warned off re phones very early on by Clarence Mitchell!

so okay, they got early warning 'bout phone "security" but did this include the now ubiquitous advice to never use voicemail?  (Advice incidentally given to my slightly "wayward" big brother and his south London friends around 1997, predating the phonehacking scandal as we understand it by some time!!!??)  If so what reason was given, if any for such advice??  If south London's Finest not so Finest were aware of the dangers then who else knew??

pennylane wrote:
McCanns were warned off re phones very early on by Clarence Mitchell!

And didn't they have a full set of new ones - with new numbers one supposes, provided precisely for this reason.

PeterMac wrote:

pennylane wrote:
McCanns were warned off re phones very early on by Clarence Mitchell!

And didn't they have a full set of new ones - with new numbers one supposes, provided precisely for this reason.

Yet more evidence of a cover-up, one can only conclude.

Oh dear Campbell's husband seems to be in the soup.   

plebgate wrote:Oh dear Campbell's husband seems to be in the soup.   

Indeed.  Things seem to be heating up.  He could get canned.  

The couple are understood to be consulting a number of senior industry figures about their media strategy, with the leading candidate thought to be former News of the World and Hello! editor Phil Hall.

No wonder it was in Campbell's vested interest to take side with the Mccanns from the get go.