July 25, 2011 12:33

Reports that Amy Winehouse's phone was hacked surface

'Back to Black' singer targeted by the media

Photo Gallery: Amy Winehouse
Photo: Danny North

A former chief reporter for the Scottish Sunday Mail has claimed that Amy Winehouse’s voicemail was targeted by newspapers.

In a blog on his website, journalist Charles Lavery writes that “the phones and medical records of Amy Winehouse were ‘routinely’ accessed by tabloid newspapers".

Lavery claims that Winehouse’s father Mitch, mother Janis, brother Alex and ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil were also targeted by the media.

Lavery’s source - which he declined to disclose - stated: "A lot of the time some people close to her sold the info, but her data was accessed on a routine, wholesale basis. And not just by one newspaper group, by most of them."

Speaking to NME, Lavery explained that "I’d known about the phone-hacking previously, and when I heard the news of her death, I made some calls and confirmed it. Naturally, there’s been quite a bit of interest in the story so far."

He continued: "I’ve no idea whether the hacking contributed to her death, what I do know is that the girl was under immense pressure from tabloid newspapers for her entire career - perhaps because she was so talented."

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