Morgan 'unaware of phone hacking'

Former tabloid newspaper editor Piers Morgan today told an inquiry into press standards in the UK that he was unaware of any phone hacking when in charge at the Daily Mirror.

And Mr Morgan said he had not been “directly involved” in the use of private investigators at the Daily Mirror.

Mr Morgan, former editor of the Daily Mirror and News of the World, told the Leveson Inquiry that “ethical considerations” had been “interwoven” into his work.

But he said British libel laws had imposed “enormously onerous” requirements.

Mr Morgan, now a CNN interviewer, gave evidence to the hearing in London via a video-link from the United States.

Mr Morgan said he was unaware of any phone hacking going on at the Daily Mirror under his leadership, adding: ``To the best of my recollection, I do not believe so.''

He said he had not been “directly involved” in the use of private investigators at the Daily Mirror.

“I was never directly involved,” he said. “This was dealt with through the news desk or the features desk so, like most editors, you just would not get directly involved.”

He added: “But certainly all journalists knew they had to operate within the law. That was enshrined in their contracts of employment.”

Inquiry chairman Lord Justice Leveson was told that Mr Morgan had made a statement to the inquiry in which he said: ``Ethical considerations were interwoven into my work.''

But Mr Morgan said, in the statement, that libel laws “imposed enormously onerous requirements”.

Lord Justice Leveson was told that Mr Morgan became the News of the World’s youngest editor in 1994 at the age of 28 and went on to edit the Daily Mirror between 1995 and 2004.