Criticising Ms Bailey alongside Paul Vickers, the former Mirror Group Newspapers legal director, he said the pair “did not report what they knew, or suspected, to the board”.
He added: “The likelihood of extensive illegal activity should have been investigated properly by Ms Bailey and Mr Vickers, at the latest in early 2007, but it never was.”
Mr Vickers was found to have known, or suspected, that phone hacking was taking place but did not report it to the firm’s board.
The group’s most senior lawyer up until late 2014 previously told the hearing that he did not know of “voicemail interception” at the newspapers until December 2013, when the Metropolitan Police launched a criminal investigation into phone hacking and “provided the key that unlocked the door”.
He claimed a picture of organised criminal activities had emerged over time. However, Mr Justice Fancourt did not accept this claim.
The judge recounted how after the arrest of hacker Glenn Mulcaire, Mr Vickers claimed he “did not believe that phone hacking was happening at MGN because of the ‘one rogue reporter’ lie of the News of the World”.
Addressing this claim, Justice Fancourt said: “I think that was a lie. Mr Vickers had been in a senior position in Fleet Street for 14 years by this time, and the idea that someone in his position, an insider, was taken in by a lie of that kind told by another newspaper is fanciful.”
Mr Vickers qualified as a barrister and went on to become company secretary and group legal director of MGN in 1992. He held the same positions at Trinity Mirror from 1999 to 2014.
He was an architect of the Independent Press Standards Organisation before stepping down as chairman of the watchdog’s funding body in 2015, leaving MGN following a 22-year career there with a pay-off of more than £400,000.
He was editorial legal director at Telegraph Media Group, the parent company of The Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, for just under two years. He is currently working as a consultant.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
