Leveson Inquiry: Tom Crone - Settlements Were To Avoid Reputational Damage

Leveson Inquiry: Tom Crone "Settlements Were To Avoid Reputational Damage [15.12.2011]

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NoW legal manager Tom Crone told the inquiry an out-of-court payment to football union boss Gordon Taylor over phone hacking was about avoiding "reputational damage".

Asked who was the "guardian of ethics" at NoW publisher News International, he said compliance was not within his job.

Mr Crone was asked by counsel to the inquiry Robert Jay QC if the 2008 Taylor case had to be settled "to avoid the parading of these matters at a public trial". He replied "yes".

"It was not a culture of cover-up, it was a culture of avoiding reputation damage through bad publicity," he said.

But later, another former NI lawyer Jon Chapman told the inquiry he believed compliance was part of the remit.

"I've heard Mr Crone's testimony. I would have thought compliance would have been picked up by lawyers on the editorial side. Clearly Mr Crone doesn't agree with that," he said.

Thanks to the BBC

Thursday 15th December 2011

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[dangerouslytalented]

They were putting off the inevitable...