Sky News head sorry for not disclosing email hacking

The head of Sky News has apologised for failing to disclose two instances of email hacking by journalists to the Leveson inquiry last summer.

John Ryley said it was "very regrettable indeed and I apologise" that an August 2011 submission to the inquiry made no reference to the hacking of accounts, which emerged earlier this month.

The broadcaster admitted hacking email accounts relating to Anne Darwin and her husband John Darwin, who she aided in faking his own death, and Lianne Smith, who murdered her children after fleeing to Spain.

The Leveson inquiry heard today that a decision had been taken to include new guidelines in Sky News's editorial code stating that "any future proposal to gather a story using potentially unlawful means is to be approved in advance by the relevant senior editor, the head of Sky News or designated deputy and Sky's in-house legal department".

Ryley said the approval procedure in the case of Lianne Smith – which was described by counsel to the inquiry David Barr QC as "cursory and informal" – was a "far cry" from what the new policy would be in the future.

"I think it is highly unlikely in the future that Sky will consider breaking the law. I am pretty much ruling it out, but journalism is at times a tough business and we need to at times shed light into wrongdoing. There might be an occasion, but I would think it would be very very rare."

He later added: "I think we will need to look hard at the issue of proportionality. There will need to be a very clear guideline written into our procedures that spells out the balance."

Asked by Lord Justice Leveson if a link could be inferred between the hacking by Sky News and voicemail interception at the News of the World, Ryley stressed: "Our journalistic endeavours and activities, our management structures, are very separate."

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