Tom Crone also told the Leveson inquiry he had been consulted by journalists on phone hacking in 2004
The former legal head of the News of the World Tom Crone has told the Leveson inquiry that he felt the "rogue reporter explanation" was "erroneous from the outset", with the phrase first used by News International in 2007.
Crone admitted he believed phone hacking went beyond the newspaper's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, who was arrested in 2006 and later jailed along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
Asked if he shared his view with colleagues he said: "I had expressed the view that others were probably involved."
"I had discussions which were privileged," Crone told the inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press, adding "I don't think they were discussions which I would say had clear and hard evidence".
Crone also told the inquiry he was "surprised we didn't hear more from the police" and that there was not further litigation in regard to phone hacking.
The former legal chief also denied personally promising Goodman that he could keep his job after serving a sentence if he kept quiet about the practices taking place at the newspaper, but said he relayed a message "on at least two occasions" to Goodman from then-editor Andy Coulson, who hoped he could continue working for the newspaper in some capacity after his release from prison.
Earlier in the hearing Crone said was consulted by journalists from the News of the World on phone hacking in 2004, two years before the arrests of Goodman and Mulcaire.
He told the inquiry he was consulted on "one occasion after the arrests [in 2006], and on one occasion before", but said he was unable to give further details due to the ongoing police investigations and legal professional privilege.
He said there was a change in the culture at the Sunday tabloid in 2007 with the arrival of Colin Myler as editor, who "tightened controls and procedures" relating to the use of private investigators and cash payments.
Describing the cash payments as "payments for stories, pictures, services", Crone said money was paid out "a lot less than previously had been occurring".
He denied any knowledge of the use of private investigators after 2007.
"Are you saying you are unaware that private investigators were sources for News International stories?", he was asked by counsel to the inquiry Robert Jay QC.
"The only ones I can remember are Motorman [the 2003 investigation led by the Information Commissioner's office into investigated the use of a private investigator by the media to obtain personal information through deception] and Mulcaire", both of which he said he found out about afterwards.
Challenged on what he knew of or ordered for surveillance of lawyers Charlotte Harris and Mark Lewis, who have both appeared before the inquiry explaining how they were trailed, he said he had asked the newsdesk for assistance in finding out the sources of "blatant leaks of confidential information to the press".
"I had never been keen on private investigators or surveillance … and I think I suggested, this is my memory, since the News of the World newsdesk seems to be good at finding out about people having relationships.
"… My understanding, at the time, is that [the surveillance] was being conducted by the newsdesk.
"I know Derek Webb was mentioned and as far as I was concerned he was a freelance journalist, not a private investigator."
When challenged on the Max Mosley privacy case, who won privacy action against the News of the World after it published a story claiming he was involved in Nazi-themed orgy, Crone told the court: "I'm not a guardian of ethics… my job was to advice on legal risks", explaining hat his "advice was not always taken" by the newspaper.
In this case he said he was asked for advice pre-publication and "I viewed parts of [the video] … I saw a fair amount of it, 15 to 20 minutes, maybe a bit more".
Asked about why Mosley was not given prior-notification, he said "I don't remember specifically being asked. I think it came up in conversations."
He said there were several factors including the "good possibility" Mosley would successfully gain an injunction against the story being published and the risk of a leak.
"I thought [the Mosley story] was justifiable without the Nazi element," Crone said.
"No one else seemed to think that, including the European court," replied the counsel for the inquiry.
Crone said he did not remember advising on whether the Mosley video should be posted on the News of the World's website, saying he was only aware of it after it was online.
He denied being asked to advise on an email sent by chief reporter of the newspaper Neville Thurlbeck to two women related to the story for a follow up article.
"I didn't know it happened until it came up in litigation," he added.
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