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Recent court documents have revealed serious allegations against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), claiming the company actively obstructed a UK investigation into phone hacking. The documents, disclosed in a high court case, suggest that a senior executive could have faced arrest for perverting justice.
Will Lewis, the implicated executive who currently serves as the chief executive and publisher of the Washington Post, was named by former detectives involved in the investigation initiated by London’s Metropolitan Police in 2011. The investigation sought to uncover extensive phone hacking activities by NGN, particularly during the operations of its now-defunct publication, the News of the World.
Testimonies from two retired detectives, including Sue Akers, a former deputy assistant commissioner, indicate that NGN appeared to actively undermine police efforts to conduct a thorough inquiry. Akers suggested that had she been aware of certain discussions within NGN, she would have pursued an investigation that could have made Lewis a suspect regarding the deletion of millions of internal emails.
Another officer involved, Barney Ratcliffe, echoed this sentiment, asserting that evidence pointed to Lewis as a suspect for potentially obstructing justice. Lewis has consistently denied any wrongdoing and chose not to comment on these recent allegations.
In response to the claims, NGN has firmly denied any misconduct, emphasizing that its executives acted appropriately. The Crown Prosecution Service previously determined in 2015 that there was insufficient evidence linking the company’s email deletions to any intention of obstructing justice.
The allegations surfaced alongside a prolonged and contentious phone-hacking case against NGN brought by Prince Harry and former Labour party deputy leader Tom Watson. Though these new claims had not been publicly available prior to the court document release, they became pertinent after the case was settled out of court in January, with NGN reportedly compensating over £10 million to the claimants.
As part of the settlement, NGN issued an unreserved apology to Harry for the phone hacking incidents involving the News of the World and recognized violations of his privacy carried out by personnel at the Sun. However, the company did not admit to allegations of illegal evidence destruction, a claim it denies and was prepared to defend vigorously in court.
The contents of the skeleton argument, which were previously undisclosed, contain the detectives’ accusations regarding the extensive deletion of emails within NGN during early 2011. Lewis, as part of NGN’s management, was responsible for overseeing this email deletion policy while simultaneously liaising with police as the investigation commenced.
NGN categorized the email deletions as a pre-planned effort based on sound operational needs, asserting that the claims by Harry and Watson were severely mischaracterized and lacked proper context. They highlighted a note from another police officer noting NGN’s failure to conduct proper backup operations during that time as part of their defense.
A press representative for NGN claimed that both Akers and Ratcliffe’s statements were selective and did not fully account for all relevant documents. They reiterated that NGN had been transparent with the Metropolitan Police, indicating that they informed investigative officers of their email management processes from the outset.
NGN further emphasized its cooperation with law enforcement and clarified that no deliberate attempt was made to destroy evidence or hinder the investigation. The ongoing public concern regarding the conduct of the police in this matter persists, with campaigners urging authorities to revisit the destruction of evidence claims.
Moreover, the NGN case has highlighted complexities surrounding the company’s interactions with police and the digital archiving of material that was potentially relevant to the accusations of misconduct. There remain questions surrounding past discussions that allegedly aimed to conceal information regarding the hacking scandal.
In recent statements, campaigners and involved parties have called for renewed scrutiny into evidence destruction and the police’s role in investigating these allegations, indicating that support for the case remains robust even as the matter seems to approach closure.
Source
www.theguardian.com