Sun's head of news thrown under the bus by News Corp bosses, court told
News Corp offered up The Sun’s head of news, Chris Pharo, and other high ranking employees as a sacrifice to police in a desperate attempt to prevent the collapse of Rupert Murdoch’s empire, a jury at the Old Bailey was told.
Pharo’s lawyer, Nigel Rumfitt QC, told the court that News Corp has manipulated evidence and used Pharo as a shield to cover the company itself from prosecution in the hacking scandal which it feared could lead to the collapse of Murdoch’s empire.
Rumfitt said to the jury “you can’t actually see the clothes pegs on the collar of his jacket, but you know he’s been hung out to dry by the company he loyally served for nearly his whole working life.
“It did it because it was desperate to use him and others to save its own skin.”
He argued that the company feared that if it was prosecuted authorities in the US may withdraw licenses which would bring down Murdoch’s vast media outlets. The jury heard how Pharo’s prosecution was News International’s bid to appease the police and Crown Prosecution Service.
According to Rumfitt, the absence of paperwork showing that Rebekah Brooks signed off most of the cash payments for phone hacking was an indicator that New International has controlled the flow of evidence.
The Met’s attempts to make up for past mistakes over phone hacking “made it 10 times worse by launching this prosecution without having sight of all the evidence and without the ability to get it” said Rumfitt.
The court was then told that, despite its best efforts, the police investigation was helpless to attain all of the evidence because “the police investigation is controlled by the prime suspect”.
Pharo is accused of paying a "secret police informant" for tips including details incidents, arrests and celebrities.