NoW editors ‘knew about phone hacks’

Paul McMullan, who worked for the now-defunct Sunday tabloid for seven years, said editors were aware their staff were illegally accessing voicemail messages but threw them “to the wolves” by denying all knowledge of it.

He alleged in his evidence that Mr Coulson brought the practice of phone hacking to the newspaper with him from The Sun, where he was editor of the showbusiness section.

He went on to describe Mrs Brooks as “the criminal-in-chief”, alleging that she “moulded” David Cameron before he became Prime Minister.

Mr McMullan claimed senior editors and executives at the newspaper listened to hacked voicemail messages.

He once tried to hack David Beckham’s voicemail but was caught out when the footballer answered the call.

“It was, ‘Hello, who is this, and how did you get my number?”’ he said.

He argued that hacking was in the public interest, saying it should not have been limited to “MI5 and MI6”.