Foulkes: Inquiry is being ‘hijacked’

OLDHAM father Graham Foulkes, whose son was killed in the 7/7 London bombings, has lashed out at celebrities for “hijacking” the inquiry into press standards.

Mr Foulkes’s son, David, was killed aged 22 in the Edgware Road Tube Station blast in 2005.

This summer Mr Foulkes was told by police that his phone may have been hacked in the wake of the terror attacks by the News of the World.

But he told the Chronicle he believed celebrities were using the ongoing Leveson inquiry for their own personal purposes.

He added: “The inquiry was set up because of the appalling behaviour towards ordinary members of the public, for instance when their children had been murdered. The News of the World had gone too far and they deserved to be punished for that.

“But as the inquiry has proceeded, the scope has broadened out allowing celebrities to hijack it for their own purposes. It’s disgraceful because it is taking the focus away from families like the Dowlers and the McCanns.”

The Austerlands dad, this year nominated for a Pride In Oldham award, was appalled when he was first told that his address and phone numbers had been found by police investigating the phone-hacking scandal — a moment he described as “horrendous”.

Yet he feels that the closure of the News of the World was justice done - and now fears the freedom of the press may be curtailed in the future.

He added: “I’m very concerned that the inquiry has gone down an avenue that will give some kind of legitimacy for controls on the media, something I’m completely against.

“I’ve always found, when speaking to anybody from the media, for them to be extremely polite and professional. In the years since the attacks, those in the media have provided me with information, advice, guidance and pointed me in the right direction when I needed it.”

The Metropolitan Police’s phone-hacking investigation is reported to have cost £3 million in salaries alone.