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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Leveson Inquiry: Myler accepted 'rogue reporter' view | Leveson Inquiry: Myler accepted 'rogue reporter' view |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler has said he feared "bombs under the newsroom floor" in the form of possible widespread wrongdoing in the past. | Ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler has said he feared "bombs under the newsroom floor" in the form of possible widespread wrongdoing in the past. |
| He "always had some discomfort", but accepted phone hacking must have been limited because police had not shown otherwise, he told the Leveson Inquiry. | He "always had some discomfort", but accepted phone hacking must have been limited because police had not shown otherwise, he told the Leveson Inquiry. |
| Mr Myler took the job in 2007, after a reporter and private investigator had been jailed for phone hacking. | Mr Myler took the job in 2007, after a reporter and private investigator had been jailed for phone hacking. |
| A former NoW reporter and a private detective have also given evidence. | |
| Reporter Daniel Sanderson and investigator Derek Webb, who carried out surveillance for the NoW on lawyers representing phone-hacking victims, appeared at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. | |
| Mr Myler took over running the paper in January 2007, after royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides. | Mr Myler took over running the paper in January 2007, after royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for illegally accessing the voicemails of royal aides. |
| Giving evidence for a second day on Thursday morning, Mr Myler said he had initially believed News International's assertion that phone hacking at NoW had been limited to "one rogue reporter". | Giving evidence for a second day on Thursday morning, Mr Myler said he had initially believed News International's assertion that phone hacking at NoW had been limited to "one rogue reporter". |
| Where and when? | Where and when? |
| "Given what I believed to be a thorough police investigation throughout that period, and the fact that the police had not interviewed any other member of staff from the News of the World other than Mr Goodman, I think that weighed heavily on my mind," Mr Myler said. | "Given what I believed to be a thorough police investigation throughout that period, and the fact that the police had not interviewed any other member of staff from the News of the World other than Mr Goodman, I think that weighed heavily on my mind," Mr Myler said. |
| "I assumed that they would have done so if they had any kind of evidence or reason to speak to somebody else." | "I assumed that they would have done so if they had any kind of evidence or reason to speak to somebody else." |
| But he added: "It's fair to say that I always had some discomfort and at the time I phrased it as that I felt that there could have been bombs under the newsroom floor. | But he added: "It's fair to say that I always had some discomfort and at the time I phrased it as that I felt that there could have been bombs under the newsroom floor. |
| "And I didn't know where they were and I didn't know when they were going to go off." | "And I didn't know where they were and I didn't know when they were going to go off." |
| Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, suggested that the NoW's payout to Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor over the hacking of his phone had been to avoid "creating a tendency for one or more of those bombs to explode if there were a trial". | Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, suggested that the NoW's payout to Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor over the hacking of his phone had been to avoid "creating a tendency for one or more of those bombs to explode if there were a trial". |
| Mr Myler denied that the News of the World had carried out a "cover-up" by paying out £425,000 plus costs to settle the case. | Mr Myler denied that the News of the World had carried out a "cover-up" by paying out £425,000 plus costs to settle the case. |
| But he said: "The company, not unreasonably or unsurprisingly, wanted to try to get things back on track after Mr Mulcaire and Mr Goodman went to jail. And it was a significant process to do that." | But he said: "The company, not unreasonably or unsurprisingly, wanted to try to get things back on track after Mr Mulcaire and Mr Goodman went to jail. And it was a significant process to do that." |
| Therefore "there was no appetite to go back" to court, he said. | Therefore "there was no appetite to go back" to court, he said. |
| Mr Myler told the inquiry that he felt self-regulation of the press did work, but that the system needed to be strengthened. | Mr Myler told the inquiry that he felt self-regulation of the press did work, but that the system needed to be strengthened. |
| "We are an industry that historically is quite dysfunctional. The competition between us... means we are not very good at coming together," he warned. | "We are an industry that historically is quite dysfunctional. The competition between us... means we are not very good at coming together," he warned. |
| "Unless this industry comes together and unites and engages with the courts and the politicians, I think it's a pretty gloomy and grim future." | "Unless this industry comes together and unites and engages with the courts and the politicians, I think it's a pretty gloomy and grim future." |
| Without permission | Without permission |
| Later on Thursday, Mr Sanderson described how he had been involved in obtaining a copy of the diary of Kate McCann, the mother of missing Madeleine McCann, from a Portuguese journalist. | Later on Thursday, Mr Sanderson described how he had been involved in obtaining a copy of the diary of Kate McCann, the mother of missing Madeleine McCann, from a Portuguese journalist. |
| Mr Sanderson, then a junior reporter, said the task had caused him concern. "It was clearly a private document - I understood that - but at that stage we were not in possession of the diary so we didn't know what we were dealing with," he said. | Mr Sanderson, then a junior reporter, said the task had caused him concern. "It was clearly a private document - I understood that - but at that stage we were not in possession of the diary so we didn't know what we were dealing with," he said. |
| He added: "I was told at the time that we would not be publishing the diary unless we had the express permission of the McCanns." | He added: "I was told at the time that we would not be publishing the diary unless we had the express permission of the McCanns." |
| After extracts were published without that permission, the paper apologised and made a donation to the McCanns' fund to find their daughter, who went missing during a family holiday in Portugal. | After extracts were published without that permission, the paper apologised and made a donation to the McCanns' fund to find their daughter, who went missing during a family holiday in Portugal. |
| "With hindsight, it was completely the wrong decision to publish," Mr Sanderson told the hearing. | "With hindsight, it was completely the wrong decision to publish," Mr Sanderson told the hearing. |
| Earlier in the inquiry, Mrs McCann said that finding out that her private diary had been published in the NoW in 2008 had made her feel "totally violated". | Earlier in the inquiry, Mrs McCann said that finding out that her private diary had been published in the NoW in 2008 had made her feel "totally violated". |
| Mr Sanderson said: "I have every intention of apologising to the McCanns. I did feel very bad that my involvement in the story had made Mrs McCann feel the way that she had." | Mr Sanderson said: "I have every intention of apologising to the McCanns. I did feel very bad that my involvement in the story had made Mrs McCann feel the way that she had." |
| Footballer's wife | |
| Mr Webb, a retired Hertfordshire Police detective, undertook surveillance work as a private investigator for the News of the World from 2003 until the paper closed earlier this year. | |
| He said he had kept watch on a combination of celebrities, politicians and sports stars for the paper. | |
| Mr Webb said he had never received an instruction from the NoW which contained within it the transcript of a text message, phone conversation or voicemail message. | |
| He said he had placed about 150 people under surveillance over an eight-year period, and said he had been told by the paper not to go on private property, go through rubbish bins or take pictures of or follow children. | |
| Mr Webb added he was also instructed by the NoW to track celebrities' families and people with connections to celebrities, as well as criminals and lawyers. | |
| He would follow people, either on foot or by car, for up to two weeks at a time. He said he kept the wife of a famous footballer under surveillance for a month. | |
| Mr Webb told the inquiry he had been given specific instruction to place MP Tom Watson, a member of the Commons culture committee, under surveillance for a specific story, not a "fishing trip". | |
| He said he was also asked to follow solicitors Charlotte Harris and Mark Lewis, who both represented victims of alleged phone hacking, to see if they met up. | |
| Mr Webb said he was asked to carry out surveillance on the actors Sienna Miller and Jude Law, but only on one day. |