Leveson Inquiry: tabloid press 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil' - Telegraph.co.uk

"We say this is symptomatic of a level of complacency in the British press or at least part of it," he added.

"There has been a serious breakdown of trust between the press and the general public."

Milly Dowler's parents are among a group of 51 "core participants" who will give evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics about alleged press intrusion into their lives.

They will tell Lord Justice Leveson how the "despicable" actions of journalists at the News of the World raised their hopes that she might still be alive.

Sally Dowler will outline the "euphoria" she felt when she got through to Milly's phone and discovered some of the messages had been deleted.

But her hopes were dashed because the messages had actually been deleted by Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the now defunct Sunday tabloid.

Mr Sherborne said: "Perhaps there are no words which can adequately describe how despicable this act was."

^{Milly Dowler, 13, was still being treated as a missing person when her voicemails were intercepted [Photo: PA]}

The Dowlers, who will be the first witnesses to give evidence to the inquiry, suspect that their own phones were also hacked, the hearing was told.

Mr Sherborne said the Dowler family were also subjected to "terrible intrusion" when they retraced the route Milly was walking in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, when she was abducted in March 2002.

The lawyer said they intended this as a "private moment" which would help them to come to terms with their daughter's disappearance.

But they were photographed and their picture appeared in the News of the World under the headline The Longest Walk.

Mr Sherborne went on to outline the experiences of other alleged victims of press intrusion, who will give evidence to the public inquiry.