Ex-NoW reporter blasts News Corp for role in jailing of detective

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/feb/01/now-reporter-news-corp

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The former News of the World reporter whose evidence contributed to the jailing of a senior anti-terrorism police officer has launched a scathing attack on the paper's owner, News Corporation, for its role in the case.

Tim Wood is furious that News Corp, the ultimate owner of the now-defunct tabloid, handed over an email he had written, which Justice Fulford said was crucial to Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn's conviction and imprisonment for 15 months.

Wood was the journalist who took the call when Casburn phoned the News of the World early one Saturday morning on September 2010 to tip off the paper that Scotland Yard was launching a new phone-hacking investigation.

He told the Exaro News website that the decision by News Corp's management and standards committee to hand over the email about the details of his phone conversation with Casburn to the Met was a "betrayal" of one of the most basic principles of journalism, which is "always to protect the source" of a story.

"The MSC was established to counter damaging claims of a cover-up at News International over phone hacking," Wood told Exaro News.

"But I believe that it has gone too far, betraying more confidential sources than any other body or person in the history of journalism."

The MSC, set up by News Corp to deal with the phone-hacking scandal, has been handing over emails to Scotland Yard since 2011 when News International, the UK publishing arm of Murdoch's empire, decided to change its tack and co-operate fully with police amid mounting criticism that it had tried to cover up alleged criminality at the Sunday tabloid.

This information has resulted in the arrest of dozens of current and former News International journalists, including 22 on the Sun.

Wood said in his 30-year reporting career he has been quizzed four times about his sources by police but has not once breached the "tenet of journalism", which is never to reveal sources.

He added that the MSC's decision to hand over evidence that can potentially lead to sources being identified threatens the work of all journalists.

"The MSC's betrayal threatens the confidence of any future source who is thinking of going to News International's four newspapers and hoping to remain anonymous," Wood said. "It also threatens the ability of reporters on the publisher's titles – the Sun, the Times and their sister Sundays – to operate effectively in the future. Indeed, the MSC's actions jeopardise the work of all journalists."

He was coming to the end of his night shift just before 8am on 11 September 2010 when he took the call from Casburn and quickly fired off an email to his boss and the paper's crime editor detailing the conversation.

During her trial, the jury heard that Casburn did not give Wood her name during the phone call, but left a mobile phone number which was later traced by Scotland Yard detectives to her personal handset.

Neither Wood nor any of his bosses acted on the call, suspecting it was a "sting operation" as the caller was phoning looking for money about an investigation into the paper.

"My immediate reaction was that this was a sting or crank call. She could hardly be a senior police officer in reality, I thought," Wood said.

"I spoke to the news editor, Ian Edmondson, who was also suspicious. He told me to email the details to him and the crime editor, Lucy Panton. I did this, and thought no more of it."

Wood heard nothing more of the email until he was contacted by police 18 months later. When he arrived at Snow Hill station in Farringdon, central London, he was handed the email memo he had written to Edmondson and Panton.

He said he expected News International to step in with help "but none was forthcoming". The National Union of Journalists told him that News International had "compromised" him and he had no choice but to be a witness.

Journalists covering Casburn's case were surprised that Wood was the prosecution's prime witness as there have been numerous previous examples of newspapers, including the Guardian, the Times and the Financial Times, risking sequestration of assets or journalists risking imprisonment for refusal to reveal sources.

In 1990 journalist Bill Goodwin, of the Engineer magazine, was hauled through the courts for refusing to betray a source.

Mr Justice Fulford, who presided over the Casburn case, said he had "no difficulty" believing the accuracy of Wood's email note of the conversation with the DCI.

"It seems to me Mr Wood was a reliable, honest and disinterested witness. He took the time and trouble doing the telephone call to find out in detail what Ms Casburn was [offering]. He had no reason to lie and every cause to be cautious given the risk that the newspaper was about to become victim to a sting as he suspected," Fulford said.

Wood told Exaro on Friday that Casburn was not seeking money for a story but "seeking reward in return for information that might help a large corporation defend itself against damaging allegations".

News International declined to comment. It is understood that the publisher is offering legal support to journalists.

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