New hack heat on Murdoch
Scotland Yard to grill him after ex-PM aide convicted
SCOTLAND YARD detectives plan to interview media mogul Rupert Murdoch about a phone-hacking scandal that led to one of his former top honchos being convicted Tuesday on criminal charges.
Detectives have informed the 83-year-old Murdoch he’ll be grilled “under caution” — a warning given to suspects, according to The Guardian.
The interview is expected to take place in Britain in the near future and could include questions for Murdoch’s son, James, who was executive chairman of News International, the British newspaper reported.
Tuesday’s conviction of Andy Coulson — the disgraced ex-editor of the News of the World and one-time flack for Prime Minister David Cameron — could leave Murdoch’s company vulnerable to corporate charges.
Murdoch could wind up being prosecuted under section 79 of Britain’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which holds company directors liable if evidence shows they consented or connived with the wrongdoings of employees.
Company heads can also be prosecuted for violating the act if investigators determine their negligence resulted inthe misdeeds of workers.
At least 11 more trials are slated involving 20 other former journalists for the News of the World and The Sun, British tabloids owned by Murdoch’s company.
Murdoch also faces a number of civil suits filed by victims whose phones were hacked. His company has already agreed to pay damages to 718victims.
Scotland Yard detectives had planned to interview Murdoch earlier in the investigation, but a deal was struck to grill him after the trial of Coulson and other officials of News International, now called News UK.
In September, Murdoch’s former right-hand man Les Hinton was interviewed by detectives “under caution” for three hours about the phone hacking scandal.
A London jury convicted Coulson of conspiring to intercept communications by eavesdroppingonmobilephonevoicemails.But the panel acquitted Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive, of the same charge, plus bribery and preventing the course of justice.
During the eight-month trial, it was revealed that Brooks and Coulson, both 46, engaged in an extramarital affair while working at the now-defunct News of the World.
“We said long ago, and repeat today, that wrongdoing occurred, and we apologized for it,” Murdoch’s company said in a statement Tuesday.
“We have been paying compensation to those affected and have cooperated with investigations,” the statement added. “We made changes in the way we do business to help ensure wrong doing like this does not occur again.”
The verdict left Cameron eating crow. He hired Coulson as his communications director despite a 2007 criminal case that revealed phone hacking was in full swing at the tabloid under Coulson’s command.
“I am extremely sorry that I employed him,” Cameron said in a statement. “It was the wrong decision, and I am very clear about that.
“I take full responsibility for employing Andy Coulson,” Cameron said. “I did so on the basis of undertakings I was given by him about phone hacking, and those turned out not to be the case.”
But Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labor Par- ty, scoffed at Cameron’s mea culpa, saying the prime minister had “serious questions to answer.” “We now know that he brought a criminal into the heart of Downing Street,” Milibrand said following Tuesday’s verdict.
Coulson faces a maximum sentence of twoyears in jail.
Four other defendants — including Brooks’ husband Charlie and former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner — were also acquitted.
The scandal exploded in2011 when it was revealed reporters at the News of the World scored scoops by hacking the phones of celebrities and royal family members. The tabloid even allegedly stooped to intercepting the voicemail account of a 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 2002.