Phone-hacking trial: Miskiw the 'Kings Cross station' of hacking, court told

Langdale began the afternoon's proceedings by advising the witness that when he asked him questions about journalistic sources he was not seeking to get the name of the source. He then asked Goodman about the defendant's relationship with Andy Coulson while he edited the News of the World. The witness was asked if he was part of the "old guard" at the paper along with Greg Miskiw, who has already pleaded guilty to phone hacking. Goodman replied that he knew Miskiw "but we would not refer to ourselves as an old guard."

Goodman was asked if he knew much about Miskiw's activities at the paper. "Not really," the witness responded. "He ran the investigations team and could be very secretive." Goodman agreed that he kept in contact with Miskiw when the latter moved to Manchester but could not recall if they ever discussed phone hacker Glenn Mulcaire, although he was aware the two were "close" and "Glenn Mulcaire was very much Greg's discovery". He could not recall however stating the two were like "Sooty and fingers."

The barrister then asked the witness how he paid Mulcaire for his phone-hacking activities. Goodman said he would get an authorisation from the managing editor, draw £500 each week in cash and then meet Mulcaire, usually in his car, and hand the money over. "He was very keen to be paid very quickly." Langdale asked the witness if he had ever taken any money for himself. "That's not true," Goodman replied.

The jury was then shown emails between Goodman and Coulson from 2002 about the trial of Paul Burrell, former butler to princess Diana, in which Goodman states: "One whisper from Max [Clifford] and we're all going to jail for contempt." The barrister suggested that this was a typical example of him using "florid and dramatic language". Goodman responded: "Anyone that ever read the News of the World knows we used, what you call, florid language". He added that he used "direct terms" to highlight what he felt were serious issues. Langdale suggested to Goodman "you used to talk nonsense in emails round the office so it would be no surprise that the editor would take anything you said with a large pinch of salt". The witness replied: "You'd have to ask the editor."

Langdale suggested to the witness that emails showed Coulson was trying to assist Goodman, offering him a role writing leader pieces. The defendant replied that Coulson had closed down his "Carvery" diary column and this was just an attempt to manage him. Goodman was asked if the name Titus Bramble meant anything to him. "Is he the Duchess of York's royal protection officer," Goodman asked. "I think he is a football player who played for Ipswich," Judge Saunders said, to laughter in court. "The name means nothing to me," Goodman said.

The defendant was then asked about the hacking of Paddy Harverson, head of press for the royal household, that was carried out from the News of the World's landline number in Wapping in January 2006. Goodman was asked if he carried out the hack. "I don't think there is any dispute that I was hacking Paddy at this time," the defendant replied, and he was not aware that anyone else was accessing Harveson's voicemails at the time. The court was then shown a sheet of hacks which Langdale said he was "not going to go through in any details". "Detail is important," Goodman replied, "I don't want to be answering questions on the hoof." The barrister then went through the detail of the document which shows Haverson's phone was being hacked from the News of the World's office phone and from Goodman's home telephone. The defendant agreed that he was hacking phones at this time as part of his "Anderson project" with Glenn Mulcaire.

The defence QC suggested to Goodman that he had been in contact with Mulcaire earlier than he had so far admitted. The witness said Mulcaire had been "Greg Miskiw's man" and if he needed anything from Mulcaire, you spoke to Miskiw. Emails between Miskiw and Goodman about "Harry's Nazi party" were shown to the court and Goodman said he was trying to trace a contact the host of the party (at which Prince Harry was photographed in a Nazi uniform) and the inquiry had nothing to do with phone hacking.

The court then took a short break.

When proceedings resumed Mr Langdale turned to a 2005 story from the News of the World about Prince Harry being injured in a skiing accident. Goodman confirmed this was sourced from a voicemail message from the phone of Helen Asbury, a member of the royal staff. The judge then asked the jury to leave the court while he "sorted out some evidence". When the jury returned Judge Saunders had a note read of what Goodman had said in his original evidence which was: "I listened to a voicemail and wrote I had scanned the call as Andy [Coulson] did not know about hacking at this point." Langdale suggested that this was incorrect as the voicemail was listened to by Glenn Mulcaire and the witness was lying about this to hide the fact he was in contact with Mulcaire in January 2005. "That's not true, I accessed the voicemail himself." Langdale asked "if that's true why was Mulcaire paid £700 for the story?" Goodman said that he was told the message was there by Greg Miskiw who then wanted payment for "his man" as this was "over and above his normal duties."

Langdale asked Goodman to explain as "this makes no sense at all". Goodman replied "you would have to ask Greg not me." The barrister asked if the witness was saying "Greg Miskiw decided on his own to pay £700, this account is a fiction" and suggested that Goodman kept the money for himself. "Not true," the defendant replied. "Miskiw was like Kings Cross station, everything went through him."

The witness was then asked about another email he sent to Coulson about a "leak" of a Sun story to the Daily Mail. The source of the leak, Goodman said, was Paddy Harverson who had told the Mail that the Sun had called him to confirm. The email goes on to say: "It may have come from a voicemail hack, I'll ask Greg [Miskiw] if this is possible or if it is massively password protected." Goodman said he could not recall the outcome: "It was not a story, just a newspaper drama."

Court then adjourned for the day

All of the defendants deny all of the charges, the trial continues.