Brown 'Shocked' By Hacking Allegations

Gordon Brown is "shocked" by allegations that his family's personal details were hacked by News International journalists, his office has said.

The Guardian has claimed the former prime minister was repeatedly targeted by The Sun and the Sunday Times, which allegedly hacked his voicemail, obtained his bank details and his family's medical records.

Among claims made by the broadsheet are that details from his son's medical records were obtained by The Sun, who published a story about the child's serious illness.

A spokeswoman for Mr Brown said: "Gordon Brown has now been informed of the scale of intrusion into his family's life.

"The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained. The matter is in police hands.

"The police have confirmed Mr Brown is on Glenn Mulcaire's list. And some time ago Mr Brown passed all relevant evidence he had to the police."

His wife Sarah has said she was sad to learn about the allegations, writing on Twitter: "It is very personal and really hurtful if all true."

A former aide to Mr Brown has questioned how the Sun, when News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was editor, obtained details of his son Fraser's cystic fibrosis.

Speaking on Sky News Jeff Randall Live, David Muir, one of Mr Brown's most senior advisers at No 10, said: "They were

contacted by Rebekah Brooks, who told them that they had information that Fraser had cystic fibrosis, which was a matter that they, the family, were just getting their heads around at the time and dealing with.

"And you've got to remember this is just after they had suffered the bereavement with Jennifer (the Browns' first child, who died soon after she was born) as well.

News International (NI) has responded to the allegations, saying it is "comfortable" that stories obtained about Mr Brown's children came from legitimate sources, according to Sky sources.

The publisher owns The Sun and the Sunday Times - it also owned the News Of The World which it closed last week amid allegations of phone-hacking and illegal payments to police officers.

The Guardian says there is also evidence that a private investigator used a serving police officer to trawl the police national computer for information on the former prime minister.

It claims Mr Brown was targeted during a period of more than 10 years, both as chancellor and as prime minister.

The Guardian says its investigation found that some of the activity was obviously illegal while other incidents breached his privacy but not the law.

It also says Abbey National bank found evidence suggesting a "blagger" acting for the Sunday Times posed as Mr Brown on six occasions and gained details from his account.

The paper further claims Mr Brown's London lawyers Allen & Overy was "tricked into handing over details from his file by a conman working for the Sunday Times".

However, Allen and Overy has told Sky News it has never represented Gordon Brown.

The Guardian article says: The sheer scale of the data assault on Brown is unusual, with evidence of attempts to obtain his legal, financial, tax, medical and police records as well as to listen to his voicemail.

"All of these incidents are linked to media organisations. In many cases, there is evidence of a link to News International."

A statement from News International said: "We note the allegations made today concerning the reporting of matters relating to Gordon Brown. So that we can investigate these matters further, we ask that all information concerning these allegations is provided to us."

In 2007, Clive Goodman, the News Of The World's royal editor, and Glenn Mulcaire, the newspaper's private investigator, pleaded guilty to hacking into mobile phones belonging to members of Prince William and Prince Harry's staff.

NI, the newspaper's publisher, then commissioned its own inquiry into phone hacking - widely understood to be a collection of emails rather than a report.

The Guardian claims a source at News International told the paper that five people at the company saw the report.

Tom Crone, News International editorial lawyer, was named by The Guardian as one of those who saw it.

Mr Crone has denied the allegation, telling Sky News: "I had no involvement in the 2007 internal inquiry which involved the e-mails.

"Not only that but I didn't even know about the inquiry until 2009. I was not made aware of the e-mails until the last few weeks.

"Finally, the evidence I gave to the Commons committee in 2007 was truthful as far as I knew it."

Furthermore, Sky News understands former NOTW editor, Colin Myler, who was also named by the Guardian, also denies having seen the 2007 report.