Glenn Mulcaire

Mulcaire: says he only ever acted on the instruction of his employers

Credit: Steve Parsons/PA

Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the heart of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, is to appear in the Supreme Court to challenge a ruling that he must reveal who told him to intercept voicemail messages.

Mulcaire, who was used by the News of the World between 2002 and 2007, has been granted permission to appeal against the order, which was made after comedian Steve Coogan brought a damages claim against the investigator and News of the World publisher News Group Newspapers.

Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal had rejected Mulcaire's attempt to overturn the order. The Supreme Court hearing is scheduled for two days and will start on 9 May.

Mulcaire was jailed in 2007 for six months, along with the News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman, for hacking voicemails of the royal family.

He said in a statement last summer that he only ever acted on the instruction of his employers and that "any suggestion that he acted in such matters unilaterally is untrue".

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