The Phone Hacking Scandal by the Numbers

By Braden Goyette, ProPublica

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by ProPublica.

The U.K.’s phone hacking scandal seems to keep getting bigger, with more revelations, resignations and arrests. Here’s a quick breakdown of some important stats in the scandal so far. For background on how the scandal developed, see our reader’s guide and our collection of related MuckReads.

The number of people who have been arrested in the current investigation: 10. (It’s worth noting that an arrest means something a bit different in the U.K. than it does in the U.S.)

The number of people who have resigned over the scandal: 7, including 4 top News International executives and 2 Scotland Yard officers.

The estimated amount of money Rebekah Brooks reportedly received as a severance package: 3.5 million pounds ($5.6 million)

Number of Murdoch sons who has admitted to misleading parliament: 1

The number of people on Scotland Yard’s press team who used to work for News International: 10, out of a total 45 staffers

Amount of email investigators suspect was deleted by a News International executive: according to The Guardian, about half a terabyte’s worth, “equivalent to 500 editions of Encyclopedia Britannica.”

Number of pages of information about the phone hacking scandal that were sitting in a Scotland Yard evidence room: 11,000. The documents were seized from the home of the private investigator who hacked phones for NotW, Glenn Mulcaire, during the first phone hacking investigation.

Number of hours the head of Scotland Yard’s first phone hacking investigation, John Yates, spent reviewing the documents before deciding they weren’t worth looking into: 8

Number of years before that evidence was thoroughly examined: almost 4

Number of phone numbers listed in those documents: 5,000 landlines and 4,000 cellphones

Number of phone hacking victims prosecutors initially identified in 2007: 8

Estimated number of total phone hacking victims: about 4,000

The number of phone hacking victims who’ve been notified so far: 170

Number of detectives now working on the investigation: 45

The number of phone hacking victims Scotland Yard is now contacting per week: 30

Estimated time it will take Scotland Yard to contact all phone hacking victims: 2 years

The value of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire’s original yearlong contract with NotW, for providing “information and research”: 104,988 pounds ($169,167 at today’s exchange rate)

The amount of money that News International has reportedly paid to settle lawsuits from phone hacking victims: at least 2 million pounds ($3.2 million). The documents in these cases were sealed, and some of the plaintiffs agreed to stay quiet.

The amount of money that News of the World allegedly spent bribing Scotland Yard officers: 100,000 pounds ($161,130), paid to up to five officers.

Number of News of the World whistle-blowers found dead: 1. Sean Hoare, the first News of the World journalist who came out and said that former Editor Andy Coulson knew about phone hacking, was found dead in his home [Monday]. Hoare previously had drug and alcohol problems and police said that while his death is so far “unexplained” it’s not “suspicious.”

The number of people working at News of the World when it closed: 200

Number of people pied in the face during Tuesday’s parliamentary hearing: 1