Times Editor Recalled To Leveson Inquiry

The editor of The Times has been recalled to the Leveson inquiry into media standards over claims of email hacking at his newspaper.

James Harding is likely to be quizzed about details of what he and other senior staff at Times publisher News International knew about attempts to hack a police blogger's emails three years ago.

Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into claims a Times journalist named as Patrick Foster accessed the email account of Lancashire detective Richard Horton.

The Times named Mr Horton as the author of the award-winning NightJack blog in June 2009 after the High Court refused to grant him anonymity.

In January, James Harding told the Leveson inquiry - set up in the wake of the phone-hacking revelations at sister paper the News Of The World - that one of his reporters, later identified as Foster, was issued with a formal written warning for professional misconduct for gaining unauthorised access to Mr Horton's emails.

He added in a letter to the inquiry: "When the reporter informed his managers that, in the course of his investigation, he had on his own initiative sought unauthorised access to an email account, he was told that if he wanted to pursue the story he had to use legitimate means to do so.

"He did, identifying the person at the heart of the story using his own sources and information publicly available on the internet.

"On that basis, we made the case in the High Court that the newspaper should be allowed to publish in the public interest. After the judge ruled that we could publish in the public interest, we did."

Mr Foster was formally disciplined, and has since left the newspaper, Mr Harding said.

In a letter to the Met on January 23, Mr Watson - a long-term campaigner on the hacking issue - urged officers to examine whether a crime had been committed and whether the newspaper had misled the court.

"In an attempt to protect his privacy, the police officer in question sought an injunction," the MP wrote.

"Far from putting forward a public interest defence, lawyers representing The Times claimed that the information was obtained through entirely legitimate means...

"It is clear that a crime has been committed - illicit hacking of personal emails. It is almost certain that a judge was misled."

Sun editor Dominic Mohan, who told the inquiry last month that his paper could be a "powerful force for good", has also been recalled to answer further questions next week.

Four current and former senior Sun journalists were arrested along with a serving Metropolitan Police officer over alleged police bribes at the weekend. All five men have been bailed.

It is understood that Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, the head of Scotland Yard's phone hacking investigation team, and Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre will give evidence to Lord Justice Leveson on Monday.