London, Dec 15: As inquiries continue at various levels into the phone-hacking row, News International chairman James Murdoch has admitted that he had received an email in 2008 that detailed phone-hacking at the News of the World tabloid, but claimed he did not read it in full.
The email is a key factor in the row, and Murdoch's defence before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has been that he did not receive details of the phonehacking that was sent with the email.
If he had known, he would have stopped it then.
He told the House of Commons panel that he did not read the critical email sent to him in June 2008 by the former editor of the News of the World, which indicated that phone hacking at the Sunday tabloid went beyond the activities of a single "rogue reporter".
Colin Myler, the former editor, forwarded Murdoch a note from the tabloid's legal manager Tom Crone, warning of a "further nightmare scenario", because there was fresh evidence of hacking involving a News of the World journalist other than jailed former royal editor Clive Goodman.
He replied to the email within three minutes of it being sent on June 7, 2008, offering to discuss the situation further, but he added that "I am confident that I did not review the full email chain at the time or afterwards".
The email was about the case brought by Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association.
Three days after Myler sent the note that Murdoch did not review in full, the News Corp boss met the editor and Crone on June 10, 2008 to agree to pay Taylor £700,000 to settle the case in secret.
Murdoch's News Corp, however, continued to maintain that that hacking was confined to a single "rogue reporter" until end of 2010.
