Crone accuses Murdoch of a 'shameful lie'

Former News International legal manager Tom Crone has denied he was involved in a cover-up over hacking at the News of the World.

Rupert Murdoch has today told the Leveson inquiry he and senior executives were not informed, misinformed and "shielded" from what was going on as part of a cover-up.

Mr Crone says: "His (Murdoch's) assertion I 'took charge of a cover-up' in relation to phone-hacking is a shameful lie. The same applies to his assertions that I misinformed senior executives about what was going on and that I forbade people from reporting to Rebekah Brooks or to James Murdoch.

"It is perhaps no coincidence that the two people he has identified in relation to his cover-up allegations are the same two people who pointed out that his son's evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee last year was inaccurate.

"The fact that Mr Murdoch's attack on Colin Myler and myself may have been personal as well as being wholly wrong greatly demeans him."