Murdoch Senior to testify on the Press

The media tycoon will face questioning on Wednesday and Thursday about practices at his British newspapers in the light of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the News of the World’s closure.

His son James, who stood down as News International executive chairman in February, will appear before the inquiry on Tuesday.

Lord Justice Leveson will resume his hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London with evidence from a number of national newspaper proprietors next week.

Rupert Murdoch, 81, is chief executive of global media giant News Corporation, which owns the Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, and has a 39 per cent stake in satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

He is likely to be asked whether he was aware of allegations the practice of illegally intercepting voicemails was not just confined to News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman, who was jailed in 2007 for listening to royal aides’ phone messages, and is expected to face questioning about claims he and his top executives were too close to British politicians.

Mr Murdoch is also likely to be questioned on what steps he took to ensure his UK titles were acting within the law and within the Press Complaints Commission code of practice for journalists.

It will be the media mogul’s highest profile public appearance since he gave evidence to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee last July.

There will be limits on how deeply the Leveson Inquiry’s lawyers can probe into the hacking scandal, however, because of the continuing police investigations.

Yesterday detectives investigating alleged illegal payments to public officials arrested three people, among them, sources said, the royal editor of the Sun Duncan Larcombe, 36, who was held on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt and conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office.

Officers from Scotland Yard’s Operation Elveden also arrested a former member of the armed forces, 42, and a woman, 38, at their house in Lancashire. All three were later bailed.

James Murdoch resigned as BSkyB chairman earlier this month, admitting his links to “past events at News International” threatened to damage the broadcaster’s reputation.