Sean Hoare, British journalist (News of the World), whistleblower of the 2011 phone hacking scandal died he was , 47

Sean Hoare was a British entertainment journalist. He contributed to articles on show business, from actors to reality television stars. He contributed to exposing the News International phone hacking scandal.

(1963 – c. 17 July 2011)

Career

Hoare was described as by The Guardian's Nick Davies as "coming from a working-class background of solid Arsenal supporters, always voted Labour, defined himself specifically as a 'clause IV' socialist who still believed in public ownership of the means of production."^[3] Hoare was a trainee reporter in the 1980s for the Watford Observer.^[4]
He was a reporter for The Sun before joining the The Sunday People, under editor Neil Wallis.^[3] He moved to the News of the World in June 2001,^[5] under editor Rebekah Brooks (then Rebekah Wade) but was sacked in 2005 by then editor Andy Coulson for drink and drug problems.^[6][7] He said in regards to his drug taking while employed by the News of the World, "I was paid to go out and take drugs with rock stars – get drunk with them, take pills with them, take cocaine with them. It was so competitive. You are going to go beyond the call of duty. You are going to do things that no sane man would do. You're in a machine."^[3] He claims to have often taken "three grammes of cocaine a day, spending about £1,000 a week" and would drink Jack Daniel's, and then would snort a line of cocaine as part of a "rock star's breakfast".^[3] His health deteriorated to the point that the doctor examining his liver remarked that he "must be dead".^[3] A former colleague said, "if you could imagine the stereotypical image of News of the World hack, it would be he."^[7]
In 2001, Hoare was awarded a Shafta Award (celebrating "the very worst in tabloid journalism")^[8] for his scoop on David and Victoria Beckham's purchase of an island off the Essex coast;^[9][10] the story, which turned out to be fiction,^[10] also won him the 20th anniversary "Shafta of Shaftas" in 2006.^[8] He won another Shafta in 2002^[11] two in 2003^[12] and a lifetime achievement Shafta in 2004.^[13]

Phone hacking

He was involved in and exposed the News International phone hacking scandal in which he claimed in a New York Times article that Andy Coulson "encouraged" him to hack phones. He was once a close friend of Coulson.^[6] Hoare had said of the phone hacking at the News of the World; "It was always done in the language of, 'Why don't you practise some of your dark arts on this', which was a metaphor for saying, 'Go and hack into a phone'. Such was the culture of intimidation and bullying that you would do it because you had to produce results. And, you know, to stand up in front of a Commons committee and say, 'I was unaware of this under my watch' was wrong."^[7]

Death

He was found dead at his home in Langley Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, at around 11 am on 18 July 2011.^[6] On the same day and within hours of his body being found, Hertfordshire Police stated that his death was "unexplained" but not suspicious,^[14][15] and it could take weeks to establish a cause of death.^[16] On 21 July, Hoare's widow issued a statement in which she said that his death had come as a "tremendous shock".^[17]

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