JURORS at the Old Bailey heard that former TV presenter John Leslie and model Abi Titmuss, who had a relationship, had their voicemails illegally accessed.

Prosecution lawyers claimed that the messages of the Edinburgh-born star and his girlfriend were illegally accessed on behalf of journalists at the now-closed tabloid the News of the World.

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, 45, of Churchill, Oxfordshire; ex-spin doctor Andy Coulson, also 45, from Charing in Kent; former NotW head of news Ian Edmondson, 44, from Raynes Park, south west London; and the tabloid's ex-managing editor Stuart Kuttner, 73, from Woodford Green, Essex, all deny conspiring with others to hack phones between October 3, 2000 and August 9, 2006.

The jury was shown handwritten notes kept by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire that included references to Leslie, his mobile phone number and his parents' phone number.

One note from October 2002, with the name Greg in the top left-hand corner, included the words "do both phones".

The court heard that Leslie, who presented shows including Blue Peter and This Morning, was named in 2002 by TV presenter Matthew Wright over unproved allegations that he had raped Ulrika Jonsson. No charges were ever brought.

Leslie then faced further claims from other women that were dropped when prosecutors offered no evidence.

He said in a police statement that 2002 was "a traumatic time in my life", and the intense media interest in him only abated three or four years later when he moved to Scotland and stopped working in television.

Prosecutor Mark Bryant-Heron read the court a statement from Titmuss that said: "I've been in the public eye since 2003 when I was working as a nurse and was in a relationship with the TV presenter John Leslie. The level of press interest in myself and John at the time was high.

"They were very interested in me and John as a couple and wanted to know everything about me. Ever since then I've been in the media spotlight and between 2003 and 2007 I would consider myself extremely high profile."

Jurors were earlier played furious voicemail messages left by former Home Secretary David Blunkett in the wake of false press claims about his relationship with a female friend.

The recordings, from 2005, included comments in which the politician said he hoped whoever had leaked information to the media would "rot in hell".

In one message left on his friend Sally Anderson's phone, he said: "Someone very, very close has done a really phenomenal piece of work on destroying both our lives at this moment in time and it's vile."

The trial continues.