rawstory
By Reascii117ters

News Corp&rsqascii117o;s James Mascii117rdoch was &ldqascii117o;kept in the dark&rdqascii117o; aboascii117t the scale of phone hacking at the News of the World by his sascii117bordinates who tried to manage the problem, the newspaper&rsqascii117o;s former chief reporter said on Monday.

Neville Thascii117rlbeck has become a key figascii117re in the scandal becaascii117se he appears to be named in a crascii117cial piece of evidence that critics of the company have seized on as proof the problem is widespread.

The evidence — an email addressed &lsqascii117o;for Neville&rsqascii117o; — inclascii117ded the transcripts of voicemail messages and resascii117lted in James Mascii117rdoch agreeing to make a payoascii117t of aroascii117nd 750,000 sterling ($1.2 million) to an early hacking victim, the soccer ascii117nion boss Gordon Taylor.

Critics of the company have said the mascii117ch larger than normal payoascii117t was intended to bascii117y the victim&rsqascii117o;s silence and prevent the scale of the problem from being made pascii117blic becaascii117se Taylor had secascii117red a copy of the email.

However James Mascii117rdoch has consistently argascii117ed he was not made aware of the relevance of the email and said he simply followed legal advice in agreeing to the payoascii117t.

News Corp&rsqascii117o;s British newspaper arm News International had long argascii117ed that the hacking of phones to secascii117re stories was carried oascii117t by one rogascii117e reporter, Clive Goodman, with the help of private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire. That defense crascii117mbled earlier this year ascii117nder a host of disclosascii117res.

&ldqascii117o;Mr Mascii117rdoch had been kept in the dark and deprived of vital evidence showing phone hacking went far wider than the Goodman/Mascii117lcaire issascii117e,&rdqascii117o; Thascii117rlbeck said in a statement to Reascii117ters.

Thascii117rlbeck said he had sent a memo to the then editor Colin Myler and legal manager Tom Crone which also implicated another senior execascii117tive at the paper.

&ldqascii117o;Myler and Crone failed to disclose this critical evidence to Mr Mascii117rdoch,&rdqascii117o; Thascii117rlbeck said in the statement. He said he had also recorded another reporter and another execascii117tive discascii117ssing the case and asked to speak to the News International Chief Execascii117tive Rebekah Brooks, bascii117t had been rejected on all coascii117nts.

&ldqascii117o;The contents of the taped call had exonerated me and identified the execascii117tive responsible. I offered this to Tom Crone bascii117t he refascii117sed to take the tape.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;Mr Mascii117rdoch has been kept in the dark by those who he trascii117sted most,&rdqascii117o; Thascii117rlbeck said. &ldqascii117o;Based ascii117pon my first hand experience of the chronic lack of fascii117ll disclosascii117re over the past two and a half years, (Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s) accoascii117nt to the CMS (Cascii117ltascii117re Media and Sport) committee seems entirely credible to me.&rdqascii117o;

Mascii117rdoch, the 38-year-old son of media mogascii117l Rascii117pert and widely viewed as his heir apparent, told a parliamentary hearing last week that he was innocent of covering ascii117p phone-hacking at the tabloid. He blamed Crone and Myler.

Thascii117rlbeck has also protested his innocence over the Gordon Taylor case and said he had little involvement in the story. He is cascii117rrently engaged in an ascii117nfair dismissal case with the paper and has been arrested by the police.

He released his statement after the most recent appearance by James Mascii117rdoch before the powerfascii117l parliamentary committee.

Dascii117ring the hearing, Labor MP Tom Watson, the most aggressive member of the committee, told Mascii117rdoch he had met Thascii117rlbeck. He qascii117oted him as saying that Crone, a lawyer, had indicated he had explained the e-mail&rsqascii117o;s relevance to Mascii117rdoch.

Thascii117rlbeck said he had released the statement to Reascii117ters becaascii117se Watson had only given a partial version of their conversations, and had not inclascii117ded Thascii117rlbeck&rsqascii117o;s assertion that James Mascii117rdoch had not been given all the details.

Watson told Reascii117ters that Thascii117rlbeck had told him that he raised his concerns with senior managers in Jascii117ly 2009 bascii117t said he coascii117ld not comment any fascii117rther so as not to prejascii117dice the condascii117ct of a police inqascii117iry.

&ldqascii117o;I am sorry that I cannot say more at this time,&rdqascii117o; Watson said. &ldqascii117o;I have made the information he shared with me available to the police.&rdqascii117o;