Colin Myler the Editor of The News Of The World when it closed in July 2011 had been brought in as a new broom in the wake of the Goodman-Mulcaire Scandal. Perhaps the most telling phrase he uses is that he always believed there was (metaphorically) “ a bomb under the floor boards at The News Of The World. He backs Tom Crone’s version of events, that James Murdoch had at least some knowledge of the “For Neville” email.

He defends the “Max Mosley” story. It WAS in the Public Interest. He even submitted the story for a Press Award after Mosley had won his Privacy case. The culture of journalists claiming over-stated expenses was not one he recognised.

Myler speaks of the laddish culture which he inherited and the steps he took to deal with this. The Inquiry seems to take the issue of “threatening” emails sent to witnesses in the Mosley case very seriously. Crone and Thurlbeck have already been questioned about this. Myler agress that they were outrageous. He reprimanded Thurlbeck about them ……..and was surprised to hear Thurlbeck’s evidence to the Inquiry  that it was Ian Edmondson who actually wrote them.

Myler refers to Derek Webb, a private investigator who worked for the paper and who had been arrested. He did not work for the paper while the case against him went ahead. He was re-employed after he was cleared….as a journalist. The News Of The World had arranged his National Union of Journalists membership. Myler believes that being a member of the NUJ would make Derek Webb more responsible.

The publication of Kate McCann’s diaries troubles him. Her diaries were seized by Portuguese police and a Portuguese journalist had a copy translated (in Portuguese.indicating that it could be sourced to the Police. Myler claims he was assured by Ian Edmondson that the McCanns did not have any objections to publication. In fact they did not even know.

Appropriately, Daniel Sanderson is next in the witness box. A junior reporter, he was sent out to Portugal and obtained the “Portuguese” diaries. He brought them back to London where a week was spent translating them back into English. He believed that the McCanns knew or would know before publication.

He recognises that the nature of a diary is in itself “private” and takes the opportunity to say that he will personally apologise to the McCanns for his part in the distress caused to them. He appears out of his depth in the courtroom setting.

Derek Webb became a private investigator after retiring from the police. He was introduced to The News of the World by Neville Thurlbeck and carried out over 150 surveillances for the newspaper. He did no work for the paper while he was on bail on charges which were eventually dropped. In 2009 he became a member of NUJ even though he had no experience. He did not become a journalist. His work remained the same. One of the people he followed was Tom Watson MP (Labour) MP. He spoke about being asked to follow two solicitors, Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris and videotaping a “female”.

Invited by Lewis’ solicitor if he had anything to say to Mark Lewis, Webb did not take up the implied invitation to apologise as the “female” was the 14 year old daughter of Mark Lewis.