Ex-aide of supermodel tells of suffering over phone hacking affair

Nov 22, 2011, 15:12 GMT

London - A former adviser to supermodel Elle Macpherson told an inquiry in Britain Tuesday how she was falsely suspected of telling secrets to the press and consigned to a rehabilitation clinic when, in truth, media reports on the model's private life were obtained though illegal phone hacking.

Mary-Ellen Field, who like Macpherson is Australian, told the inquiry into phone hacking that she was falsely accused by the model of being 'indiscreet' when stories about her private life appeared in the British tabloid media.

Field said she was accused of being an alcoholic and 'gave in' to being sent to a rehabilitation clinic in the US.

However, after police launched investigations into Britain's long-running phone hacking scandal in 2006, it emerged that stories written about the model had been obtained by the unlawful interception of the voicemails of both women, Field's lawyer told the inquiry.

Field was giving evidence Tuesday to the so-called Leveson inquiry, set up to investigate the hacking of mobile phone messages of celebrities, royalty, politicians and crime victims in Britain by the News of the World, a Sunday tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, which has since closed down.