Crone said Murdoch's 'clever lawyer' statement 'can only refer to me'
Credit: PATom Crone, the News of the World's former legal manager, has issued a statement denying he was involved in a cover up in relation to phone hacking at the News of the World.
In a statement issued by a spokesperson, Crone said: "Since Rupert Murdoch's evidence today about a lawyer who had been on the News of the World for many years can only refer to me, I am issuing the following statement."
Crone went on to deny his involvement and that of a second individual he identified as Colin Myler, former editor of the News of the World, in his statement.
He added that "it is perhaps no coincidence that the two people he [Murdoch] has identified in relation to his cover-up allegations are the same two people" who challenged James Murdoch's evidence to the select committee in 2011.
His statement follows Rupert Murdoch’s appearance before the Leveson inquiry where he referred to a "clever lawyer" being part of an attempt to conceal the truth about the extent of the phone-hacking scandal from senior News International executives.
Murdoch said: "There was a cover-up. I think the senior executives were … shielded from anything that was going on there, and I do blame one or two people for that, who perhaps I shouldn't name, because for all I know they may be arrested yet."
"But there's no question in my mind that maybe even the editor, but certainly beyond that, someone took charge of a cover-up, which we were victim to and I regret."
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