Phone hacking 'started at Sun newspaper'

A key phone-hacking whistleblower said the illegal practice started at The Sun before it was transferred to the News of the World, the probe into press ethics was told today.

Sean Hoare, a former show business reporter on both papers, died in July just months after lifting the lid on life within the Murdoch empire.

Today his brother Stuart, 48, told the Leveson inquiry that Hoare showed him emails from his time as a journalist that proved phone hacking was a "routine practice".

He said: "The practice not only went on at the News of the World but it went on at The Sun. I know this is the case because Sean and I regularly discussed it and there are emails which support Sean's description of a practice referred to as 'the dark side'. Sean identified that this practice was initiated at The Sun and transferred to the News of the World.

Sean Hoare spoke about illegal practices at the News of the World in interviews with the New York Times but died before the Leveson inquiry was set up. His brother said: "I feel it is my duty to my younger brother to uphold his name and prove everything Sean said was the whole truth."

News International has denied the Sun was involved in hacking. News International declined to comment.