An ex-Met police chief today accused News International of "closing ranks" over an inquiry into phone hacking.
Former deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke said the Murdoch empire had obstructed the original police investigation.
He said that after the arrest of News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman in 2006 it was apparent that the police were not going to get help from NI.
He told the Leveson inquiry: "When normally one deals with something that is happening within a large international corporation, companies bend over backwards to try and preserve their reputation and assist with enquiries. Here there was a closing of the ranks from very early on."
Lord Justice Leveson said Scotland Yard was facing "problems" in defending itself.
In early editions yesterday it was wrongly said that Dick Fedorcio, the Met's head of public affairs, was on gardening leave pending an investigation over phone hacking. It is, in fact, into allegations of misconduct over the award of a contract to a PR agency.
