Tabloids To Feel Coogan's Wrath At Inquiry

The tabloid newspaper industry is likely to get another public pummelling today when comedian and actor Steve Coogan gives evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.

His testimony comes a day after film star Hugh Grant, who has become an outspoken critic of the tabloids, said he suspected his voicemail messages were intercepted by the Mail on Sunday .

Coogan has made no secret of his disdain for the now-defunct News Of The World (NOTW) paper and its parent company News International (NI), and is suing the publication for hacking his phone.

Last weekend he gave an interview to the Guardian in which he likened Nl to a "protection racket" alleging the group's papers use the threat of press intrusion to "conduct business unencumbered by scrutiny or regulation".

In the article, Coogan said "it's a word in the ear and a life is ruined, this intrusion into people's lives has been the way of things for the past 40 years".

He called it "Rupert Murdoch's toxic legacy".

Coogan's appearance at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics follows that of the parents of Milly Dowler.

The schoolgirl's phone was allegedly hacked by the NOTW and messages deleted, leading her mother and father to think she was still alive after she disappeared in 2002.

Former bouncer Levi Bellfield was convicted earlier this year of Milly's murder.

Sally and Bob Dowler gave evidence to the enquiry for about half an hour , but painted a vivid picture of the extent of the press intrusion into their lives as the search for their missing daughter dragged on.

They told the inquiry panel they privately retraced Milly's steps several weeks after she went missing.

However, a picture of them doing so appeared in the NOTW the following Sunday, something Mrs Dowler described as an "intrusion".

She added the family became fearful of opening the door because they knew they would be confronted with reporters asking questions.

Mr Dowler said he had been confronted by a journalist "who popped up from behind a bush".

In the most moving evidence so far, Mrs Dowler also told of her elation at being able to get through to Milly's voicemail after she disappeared following a period when the mailbox had been full.

She said: "I rang her phone. It clicked through onto her voicemail, so I heard her voice and it was just like, 'She's picked up her voicemail, Bob, she's alive!'".

It later transpired Milly's phone had been hacked and voicemails deleted, though Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking for the NOTW, said he did not delete the messages.

Grant secured an injunction earlier this month preventing the media hounding the mother of his newborn baby, the Chinese actress Tinglan Hong.

At the inquiry, he accused the Mail on Sunday of hacking his phone to obtain a story about his relationship with his girlfriend at the time, Jemima Khan.

The paper hit back, with a spokesman saying: "Mail on Sunday utterly refutes Hugh Grant's claim that they got any story as a result of phone hacking.

"In fact in the case of the story Mr Grant refers to the information came from a freelance journalist who had been told by a source who was regularly speaking to Jemima Khan.

"Mr Grant's allegations are mendacious smears driven by his hatred of the media."

On Twitter, Ms Khan denied she had any part in the story.

Grant gave evidence for more than two hours and looked drained at the end of it.

Also due to appear later this week are Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Gerry McCann, the father of missing girl Madeleine, and actress Sienna Miller.

It promises to be a fascinating week at the Leveson Inquiry and an uncomfortable one for the tabloid press.