Goodman letter: hacking was 'widely discussed' at NoW

News International is facing further serious phone-hacking allegations after the publication of a letter sent by former News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman to the newspaper's human resources manager in 2004, alleging that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at the tabloid.

Goodman, who was jailed in 2007 alongside private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, claims in the letter that the practice was "widely discussed at the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor".

The editor of the title at the time was Andy Coulson, who resigned his editorship and his subsequent role as David Cameron's director of communications over the scandal, but has consistently denied any knowledge of phone hacking taking place during his time as editor of the paper.

In the letter, published by the culture, media and sport select committee today, Goodman also claims that he was "promised on many occasions" by both Tom Crone and Coulson that he could return to his job if he did not implicate the paper of any of its staff in court.

Goodman was fired by News International on 5 February 2007, with the company claiming that his guilty plea and subsequent imprisonment constituted "a very serious breach of his obligations as an employee". He was given a year's salary.

According to the Guardian, two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the select committee. One, provided by law firm Harbottle and Lewis, had been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of the police.

The other, provided by News International, had been redacted to remove all references to hacking being discussed by Coulson and the offer to give Goodman his job back in return for not implicating the company.

In Goodman's appeal against his sacking, he requested that News International hand over email exchanges between certain senior News of the World staff. The company refused, but did collect 2,500 emails and ask London law firm Harbottle and Lewis to examine the emails in relation to Goodman's claims.

After examining the emails, Harbottle and Lewis sent a letter to News International which read: "I can confirm that we did not find anything in those emails which appeared to us to be reasonable evidence that Clive Goodman's illegal actions were known about and supported by both or either of Andy Coulson, the editor, and Neil Wallis, the deputy editor, and/or that Ian Edmondson, the news editor, and others were carrying out similar illegal procedures."

This letter was then presented to the select committee by News International as evidence that wrongdoing was confined to Goodman.

But documents published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport today show that Harbottle and Lewis never intended for its letter to be presented as evidence that phone hacking was confined to Goodman, and reveal that just one hour and 42 minutes was "specifically attributed to reading the emails" by a group of junior employees.

Harbottle and Lewis's letter to the select committee goes on to stress that the firm was tasked solely with investigating Goodman's appeal against his dismissal, and says there was "absolutely no question of the firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes".

The law firm says it would have "absolutely refused" had News International requested to use its 2007 examination of the emails as evidence that phone hacking was confined to the actions of one rogue reporter.

News Corporation, which owns News International, said in a statement in response to today's allegations: "News Corporation's board has set up a Management and Standards Committee, chaired by independent chairman Lord Grabiner, which is co-operating fully with the Metropolitan Police and is facilitating their investigation into illegal voicemail interception at the News of the World and related issues.

"We recognise the seriousness of materials disclosed to the Police and Parliament and are committed to working in a constructive and open way with all the relevant authorities."

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