Incendiary claims threaten to derail News Corp’s hacking defence
News Corp’s legal defence in a long running hacking scandal is in tatters after Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective who hacked into the phones of celebrity’s, broke his silence to allege that he had been commissioned directly by Ian Edmondson, the News of the World’s assistant head of news.
Mulcaire went on to allege that several other News of the World executives were aware of his activities, but declined to name them. The frank admission holes News Corp’s defence, that the scandal was attributable to the actions of a single rogue reporter, below the waterline.
Edmondson is currently suspended from the paper and has had his computer impounded. He has also been asked to return all personal effects pending questioning as part of a separate internal inquiry instigated by Rupert Murdoch.
The news editor has been under suspicion since 2006 when police seized transcripts of Mulcaire’s illicitly recorded conversations, complete with the name “Ian” helpfully inscribed in the margins.
It is unclear why Mulcaire, whose legal fees are being met by the News of the World’s publisher, chose this moment to drop his bombshell but it is believed several litigants, including Steve Coogan, were demanding it.