The former legal head of the now-defunct News of the World publication said Tuesday that James Murdoch, the former head of the newspaper, was aware of an e-mail that documented phone hacking incidents at the company.
Tom Crone said there “was clear evidence that phone hacking was taking place beyond Clive Goodman,” who was the reporter imprisoned in 2007 for hacking the phones of royal assistants, reported AFP.
"It was the reason we had to settle the case and in order to settle the case, we had to explain the case to Mr. Murdoch and get his authority to settle, so clearly it was discussed,” he added.
Murdoch again dismissed allegations that he knew about phone hacking taking place as early as 2008.
Crone did not tell him “that wrongdoing extended beyond Mr. Goodman” or another reporter, Glenn Mulcaire, who was accused of phone hacking, Murdoch said in a statement.
“As I said in my testimony, there was nothing discussed in the meeting that led me to believe that a further investigation was necessary,” he stated.
News Corp “regards evidence given today as having been unclear and contradictory,” says the statement.
