Phone hacking: second NoW journalist takes News International to tribunal

Former assistant editor Ian Edmondson is taking publisher to employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal A second journalist at the heart of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is taking Rupert Murdoch’s News International to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal. Ian Edmondson filed his suit in April, but the case has only come to light in the wake of revelations that the paper’s former chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, is also taking News International to an employment tribunal , claiming he was unfairly sacked. However, unlike Thurlbeck, Edmondson is not claiming he was a whistle-blower and therefore should not have been sacked because he disclosed wrong-doing on the paper. Edmondson was sacked in January this year after he was named by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire as the person who asked him to hack into the mobile phone of football agent Sky Andrew. As the former assistant editor (news) of the Sunday tabloid, he was one of the most senior journalists on the paper. It is thought that Thurlbeck was only sacked this month. Because he is a whistle-blower’s defence, his case is expedited through the system, with a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in East London on Friday. News International said it would “vigorously contest” both cases. Thurlbeck was arrested in April on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages but remained on the payroll of the paper until recently. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 28, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.