Shadow
17-12-2011, 00:34
*James Murdoch 'believes key hacking evidence withheld from him'Published Thursday, Dec 15 2011, 10:58 GMT | By Andrew Laughlin James Murdoch believes that key information about phone hacking was withheld from him by senior executives at the News of the World, it has been reported.Murdoch, the executive chairman of News International, admitted earlier in the week that he did receive a vital email in 2008, but claimed that he did not read the documents that suggested hacking was "rife" at the News of the World.The Hollywood Reporter said yesterday that senior sources close to News International claim that Murdoch believes former News of the World editor Colin Myler and the paper's legal chief Tom Crone have withheld key evidence from him before he signed off a major hacking settlement to Gordon Taylor in 2008.The controversy stems over News International's repeated claim that hacking was just down to one "rogue reporter", the ex royal editor Clive Goodman who was jailed in 2007 alongside private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.However, the revealed emails showed that Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the footballers' union, wanted to "demonstrate what happened to him was rife throughout the organisation".There is also confusion over whether Murdoch was shown "four core documents that really point to widespread wrongdoing" at News international - the documents including the so-called 'for Neville' email featuring a transcript of messages taken from Taylor's phone; a memo from Goodman alleging that hacking was approved by bosses at News International; a legal opinion from Michael Silverleaf QC identifying a "culture" of criminality at the News of the World; and a further memo from Crone detailing further evidence of illegal behaviour.The source said that these key documents should have been shown to James Murdoch, but weren't."There are a number of documents he was not given