Sky News authorised 'canoe-man' email hack

Sky News authorised a journalist to hack into the emails of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin after ruling the action was in the public interest.

The broadcaster said the evidence it discovered was handed to police and used in the successful prosecution of Darwin's wife Anne for insurance and pension fraud.

Darwin, 61, faked his own death in a canoeing accident in 2002 so his wife, 60, could claim hundreds of thousands of pounds from insurance policies and pension schemes.

Former Sky News managing editor Simon Cole agreed that North of England correspondent Gerard Tubb could hack into Darwin's Yahoo! email account.

Mr Tubb uncovered messages which cast doubt on Mrs Darwin's claim during her criminal trial that her "domineering" husband forced her to go through with the fraud plan.

The Darwins, from Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, were jailed at Teesside Crown Court in 2008 for the swindle, which deceived the police, a coroner, financial institutions and even their sons Mark and Anthony.

In a separate case, Mr Tubb was authorised to access the emails of a suspected paedophile and his wife, although this investigation did not result in any material being published or broadcast.

John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said in a statement:

Cleveland Police said in a statement:

Sky News is part of BSkyB, which is 39% owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

The Leveson Inquiry into press standards has heard that former Times reporter Patrick Foster hacked into the emails of Lancashire detective Richard Horton in 2009 to unmask him as the author of the anonymous NightJack blog.

James Harding, editor of the Times, which is owned by Mr Murdoch, told the inquiry in February that he "sorely regretted" the intrusion and "expected better" of his paper.

Mr Ryley said: