Sean Hoare, a former News of the World journalist who claimed that Andy Coulson, the tabloid’s former editor, knew about and encouraged phone hacking, was found dead on Monday

Sean Hoare, a former News of the World journalist who claimed that Andy Coulson, the tabloid’s former editor, knew about and encouraged phone hacking, was found dead on Monday, The Guardian reports.

According to the newspaper, Mr. Hoare, who “worked on The Sun and The News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems,” was “said to have been found dead at his Watford home.”

Police officers in Watford, outside London, refused to confirm the dead man’s identity to The Guardian but said in a statement: “The death is currently being treated as unexplained, but not thought to be suspicious. Police investigations into this incident are ongoing.”

Laura Kuenssberg, The BBC’s chief political correspondent, reported on Twitter that Mr. Hoare’s death was “confirmed.”

Mr. Hoare told The New York Times in 2010 that Mr. Coulson was aware of phone hacking at The Sun and The News of the World, which are both owned by News Corporation’s British newspaper division.

Mr. Coulson, who was arrested last week in connection with a new police investigation into misconduct at The News of the World, has always denied that he knew about the phone hacking that went on when he was the tabloid’s editor.

As my colleagues Don Van Natta Jr., Jo Becker and Graham Bowley reported last September:

Sean Hoare, a former reporter and onetime close friend of Coulson’s, also recalled discussing hacking. The two men first worked together at The Sun, where, Hoare said, he played tape recordings of hacked messages for Coulson. At News of the World, Hoare said he continued to inform Coulson of his pursuits. Coulson “actively encouraged me to do it,” Hoare said.

Hoare said he was fired during a period when he was struggling with drugs and alcohol.
In a subsequent interview, Mr. Hoare told The BBC that Mr. Coulson was “well aware” of phone hacking and “to deny it is a lie, is simply a lie.”

Just last week, Mr. Hoare told The Times that British police had used illicit cellphone tracking, known to News of the World journalists as “pinging,” to help them locate subjects.

As my colleagues John Burns and Jo Becker reported:

Under British law, the technology involved is restricted to law enforcement and security officials, requires case-by-case authorization and is used mainly for high-profile criminal cases and terrorism investigations, according to a former senior Scotland Yard official who requested anonymity so as to be able to speak candidly.

According to Oliver Crofton, a cybersecurity specialist who works to protect high-profile clients from such invasive tactics, cellphones are constantly pinging off relay towers as they search for a network, enabling an individual’s location to be located within yards by checking the strength of the signal at three different towers….

A former show-business reporter for The News of the World, Sean Hoare, who was fired in 2005, said that when he worked there, pinging cost the paper nearly $500 on each occasion. He first found out how the practice worked, he said, when he was scrambling to find someone and was told that one of the news desk editors, Greg Miskiw, could help. Mr. Miskiw asked for the person’s cellphone number, and returned later with information showing the person’s precise location in Scotland, Mr. Hoare said. Mr. Miskiw, who faces questioning by police on a separate matter, did not return calls for comment.