Stars follow Dowlers at inquiry into British press

Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller and JK Rowling will be among the first witnesses to give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards next week.

The celebrities join families of crime victims, journalists and lawyers who will describe their experiences of media intrusion.

The inquiry yesterday confirmed the names of the people who will open witness sessions next week. Sally and Bob Dowler, whose murdered daughter Milly’s phone was hacked by the News of the World, will be first to give evidence on Monday.

They will describe the heartbreak private investigator Glenn Mulcaire caused when he deleted some of the schoolgirl’s voicemail messages, giving them false hope she was still alive.

Mr Grant, who will also appear on Monday, is expected to tell how paparazzi have hounded the mother of his baby daughter.

Chinese actress Tinglan Hong was last week granted a High Court injunction prohibiting harassment of her and the child.

The other witnesses on Monday will be lawyer Graham Shear and writer Joan Smith, whose phone was allegedly hacked because of her relationship with MP Denis MacShane.

Comic Steve Coogan, model Elle Macpherson’s former business adviser Mary-Ellen Field, former Premiership footballer Garry Flitcroft and Margaret Watson, whose daughter Diane was stabbed to death at her Glasgow school, will give evidence on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the inquiry will hear from missing Madeleine McCann’s father Gerry, who has described how his wife Kate felt “mentally raped” when the News of the World published her highly personal diary.