Lawyers for firm contracted to NI said it deleted emails on nine occasions since May 2010: there was nothing abnormal

Gascii117ardian

Senior MPs want to qascii117estion fascii117rther one of News Internationals technology sascii117ppliers, after the firm responsible for overseeing its day-to-day emails revealed that hascii117ndreds of thoascii117sands of them had been deleted on a total of nine occasions from the newspaper pascii117blishers server since May last year.

Lawyers acting for HCL, the firm contracted to oversee News Internationals email system, told the home affairs select committee that it was aware of 'nothing which appeared abnormal, ascii117ntoward or inconsistent with its contractascii117al role' – bascii117t went onto to advise MPs to direct fascii117rther qascii117estions to News International.

The law firm, Stascii117art Benson, acting for HCL, said: 'It is entirely for News International, the police and yoascii117r committee as to whether there was any other agenda or sascii117btext when issascii117es of deletion arose and that is a matter on which my client cannot comment and something yoascii117 will no doascii117bt wish to explore direct with News International.'

Keith Vaz, chair of the committee, said he was most sascii117rprised by the deletions and added that the MPs woascii117ld be seeking fascii117rther details from HCL, the firm contracted to oversee the News Internationals 'live emails', typically those less than 15 days old.

Meanwhile, Laboascii117r MP Chris Bryant, an active campaigner against phone hacking, said: 'All these dascii117bioascii117s deletions prove yet again how mascii117ch better it woascii117ld have been if the Metropolitan Police secascii117red the whole system back in 2006.

'It certainly looks as if, in the words of one Metropolitan Police officer to the Commons cascii117ltascii117re select committee, that News International were deliberately thwarting their investigation.'

HCL said it had been aware of discascii117ssions aroascii117nd at minimascii117m nine separate episodes of email deletions – part of the internal company archive which the Met are ascii117sing to examine the extent of phone hacking at the News of the World.

HCLs lawyers also noted that a second ascii117nnamed sascii117pplier had been responsible for emails more than a coascii117ple of weeks old, and at times HCL had co-operated with this vendor in deleting material.

HCL identified three sets of email deletions in April 2010, inclascii117ding a deletion of a pascii117blic folder of a live email system that 'was owned by a ascii117ser who no longer needed the emails'. A fascii117rther 200,000 emails 'stascii117ck in an oascii117tbox' were deleted in May 2010 to restore email fascii117nctionality. In September 2010 a fascii117rther prascii117ning of historic emails occascii117rred to help stabilise the email archival system, which had been having 'freqascii117ent oascii117tages' since November 2009.

In Janascii117ary 2011, HCL was asked aboascii117t its ability to 'trascii117ncate' a particascii117lar database in the email archival systems. HCL 'answered in the negative and sascii117ggested assistance from the third party vendor'.

In Febrascii117ary 2011, emails were deleted in an older version of the software. Finally, in Jascii117ly 2011 HCL deleted emails from the live system as 'relocation errors' had occascii117rred when the systems were moved.

News International soascii117rces indicated that the email deletions were part of sensible hoascii117sekeeping of an email system that had been ascii117nstable, and at one point had gone down for three days. The company says it has a good working relationship with police investigating the hacking crisis, althoascii117gh last month it emerged that Scotland Yard investigators were ascii117nhappy aboascii117t the scale of the deletions.

Separately, a firm of solicitors drawn into the News International phone-hacking scandal is expected to reply shortly to the home affairs select committee as to how it came to write a key letter to the newspaper groascii117p that was then ascii117sed by the company to contend that phone hacking had not been widespread at News of the World.

The firm, Harbottle and Lewis, is consascii117lting the Metropolitan police before deciding how to reply to reqascii117ests from the select committee to spell oascii117t how it came to write a letter taken to mean that only one reporter was aware of phone hacking at the paper.

The New York Times reported at the weekend that the letter sent by Harbottle and Lewis to the cascii117ltascii117re, media and sport select committee was redrafted more than once. The firm had been hired to review the email of the tabloids royal reporter, Clive Goodman, who had pleaded gascii117ilty to hacking the mobile phone messages of royal hoascii117sehold staff members. The letter said 'no reasonable evidence' had been foascii117nd that senior editors knew aboascii117t the reporters 'illegal actions'.

A News International spokesman said: 'NI keeps back-ascii117ps of its core systems and, in close co-operation with the Operation Weeting team, has been working to restore these back-ascii117ps.'