News Of The World Whistleblower Found Dead

Former News of the World showbiz reporter, Sean Hoare, has been found dead at his Watford home. Hoare was the first named journalist who alleged that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff. Coulson is the former editor of News of the World. Hoare worked under Coulson before being dismissed for substance abuse problems. The scandal at the newspaper has tarnished the image of its owner, News. Corp

, and has led the company's CEO Rupert Murdoch to shutter the News of the World. London police have not confirmed the identity of the deceased, but released a statement. "At 10.40am today [Monday 18 July] police were called to Langley Road, Watford, following the concerns for the welfare of a man who lives at an address on the street. Upon police and ambulance arrival at a property, the body of a man was found. The man was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after. The death is currently being treated as unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing." Hoare

to the New York Times during that paper's investigation into the phone hacking allegations at the News of the World. Hoare claimed that Coulson knew of the phone hacking, and that he actively encouraged his staff to intercept celebrity phone conversations in the pursuit of stories. In an interview with the BBC, he said that Coulson personally asked him to tap into phones and said that Coulson's denials about his knowledge of the hacking, was "a lie, it is simply a lie". Coulson had said that he had "never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place". Hoare was back in the spotlight last week when he told the New York Times that the News of the World were able to use police technology in order to locate people using their mobile phone signals. According to Hoare's accusations, the paper paid police officers for access to this technology.