Police Said to Want Names Tabloid Hacker Disclosed Kept Secret

London police will seek to block a comedian’s lawyer from disclosing which News Corp. employees directed private detective Glenn Mulcaire to hack into celebrities’ voice mails, a person familiar with the case said.

Mulcaire, who was jailed in 2007 for phone-hacking while employed by the News of the World tabloid, gave the names to the London-based law firm Schillings on Aug. 26. He was required to do so as part of a lawsuit filed by Stephen Coogan, an actor who claims his messages were also intercepted. Mulcaire lost a court ruling last month in which he sought to avoid naming who at News Corp.’s U.K. unit asked him to intercept phone messages left for six public figures.