CASES: BBC chief Mark Thompson revealed the corporation had used investigators 232 times during a six-year period.
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Sam Marsden and Catherine Wylie
The corporation once used investigator Steve Whittamore, who was later convicted of illegally accessing personal data, to check if someone was on a flight.
On another occasion a BBC journalist commissioned a private detective to find out the owner of a car from its number plate, the hearing was told.
