Julian Pike told the inquiry he was aware in April 2010 that surveillance was being carried out on Lewis and Harris
A lawyer who acted as a legal advisor for News Group Newspapers has insisted that he had no knowledge of a private investigator being used to carry out alleged surveillance of two other lawyers in 2010 on behalf of the News of the World, at the time.
In November News International released a statement to say it believed "Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris were subject to surveillance".
"While surveillance is not illegal, it was clearly deeply inappropriate in these circumstances. This action was not condoned by any current executive at the company."
Giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry Julian Pike, a partner at law firm Farrer & Co, said he was aware in April last year that surveillance was being carried out on Lewis and Harris, who have represented individuals claiming their phones had been hacked.
But Pike insisted he did not know "the detail of that" surveillance and did not know "the individual who was doing it."
When asked by counsel to the inquiry Robert Jay QC if he did not think "it must be a private investigator", Pike responded to say: "not necessarily no".
"It could have been two or one freelance journalists," he said, later adding that "in my experience it's perfectly possible for both".
"Freelance journalists are able to carry out these exercises as much as private investigators".
The inquiry heard that Pike had concerns about the two lawyers which he mentioned to News Group Newspapers in March 2010.
The firm was instructed in May 2010 to engage private investigators in a review "of documents in the public domain", a month after when he told the inquiry he was aware the pair were the subjects of surveillance, but not of those carrying it out.
He told the inquiry he thought the bounds of the investigation were "obvious".
"One had hoped at the time that the News of the World would be able to carry out a very straight forward job of surveillance as regards Lewis and Harris."
However he said he "could not condone at all" the surveillance of family members.
Appearing before the inquiry last month Mark Lewis described finding out that his ex-wife and daughter had been filmed leaving their home, shopping, and visiting a garden centre.
"That was truly horrific, that my daughter was videoed, was followed, by a detective with a camera," he said.
"That shouldn't happen to anybody's child … It was horrific. They had no right to do that."
News International apologised in court for video surveillance carried out on Lewis' family.
Harris also appeared before the inquiry last week, describing the revelation that she was subject to surveillance as "very obstructive" and "disconcerting".
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