LONDON (Reuters) – James Murdoch knew more than three years ago that phone-hacking at News Corp’s News of the World went beyond one “rogue” reporter, the newspaper’s former legal chief said on Tuesday, contradicting repeated denials by Murdoch.
As the two-month crisis that has gripped News Corp and Britain’s political establishment deepened, Tom Crone also said he had seen evidence that the company had recently hired freelance reporters to spy on hacking victims’ lawyers.
In a statement, James Murdoch stuck to his denial that he had known at the time that hacking was more widespread but Crone’s repeated allegations, and the mention of recent spying, cast doubt on Murdoch’s effectiveness in weeding out wrongdoing.
News Corp has been engulfed by the scandal since July when it was revealed that the phone hacking extended beyond celebrities and politicians to murder victims including schoolgirl Milly Dowler, and British war dead.
The crisis has already wiped billions of dollars off News Corp’s market value, cost it two senior executives, forced it to drop a $12 billion bid for BSkyB and to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World tabloid.
James Murdoch, News Corp’s deputy chief operating officer has seen his chances of succeeding his father and founder
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