Sky News hack ‘in public interest’, says broadcaster

SKY News authorised a journalist to hack into the e-mails of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin after ruling the action was in the public interest.

The broadcaster said the evidence it discovered was handed to police and used in the successful prosecution of Darwin’s wife Anne for insurance and pension fraud.

Darwin, 61, faked his death in a canoeing accident in 2002 so his wife, 60, could claim hundreds of thousands of pounds from insurance policies and pension schemes.

Former Sky News managing editor Simon Cole agreed that north of England correspondent Gerard Tubb could hack into Darwin’s Yahoo! e-mail account.

Mr Tubb uncovered messages which cast doubt on Mrs Darwin’s claim during her criminal trial that her “domineering” husband forced her to go through with the fraud plan.

The Darwins, from Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, were jailed at Teesside Crown Court in 2008 for the swindle, which deceived the police, a coroner, financial institutions and their sons, Mark and Anthony.

John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said: “Like other news organisations, we are acutely aware of the tensions that can arise between the law and responsible investigative journalism.”

Sky News is part of BSkyB, which is 39 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.