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Hinton, who has worked for Rupert Murdoch for over 50 years told staff at the Wall Street Journal he had no option but to resign Rupert Murdoch’s right hand man Les Hinton has resigned in the latest shock development in a saga that is still threatening to engulf the newspaper and TV baron’s empire. Hinton, who has worked for the media baron for more than 50 years told staff at the Wall Street Journal he had no option but to resign. “It is a deeply, deeply sad day for me. “When I left News International in December 2007, I believed that the rotten element at the News of the World had been eliminated “That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant,” he wrote in a letter to staff adding: “I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp”. Les Hinton, headed Murdoch’s British newspaper arm, News International, when the phone-hacking allegations the media empire first arose. His resignation comes just hours after his successor in the UK Rebekah Brooks fell on her sword as Murdoch made attempts to draw a line under the phone-hacking that was threatening to engulf his worldwide empire. Hinton had come under increasing scrutiny recently as a cascade of allegations indicated the problems at the centre of the scandal were more widespread than he had twice led a parliamentary committee to believe. In 2007 and 2009, Hinton told a select committee that the company had carried out a full investigation into the matter and was convinced just one of its journalists was involved. Murdoch said: “Les and I have been on a remarkable journey together for more than 52 years. That this passage has come to an unexpected end, professionally, not personally, is a matter of much sadness to me.” Hinton was parachuted into New York in 2007 after Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal and tasked with transforming the paper into the ‘Financial Times of America’. A trust and discreet lieutenant of Murdoch’s, he said in a statement, that he had “watched with sorrow from New York as the News of the World story unfolded”. “The pain caused to innocent people is unimaginable. That I was ignorant of what apparently happened is irrelevant and in the circumstances I feel it is proper for me to resign from News Corp and apologise to those hurt by the actions of News of the World.” He added that “his testimonies” before the “culture, media and sport select committee were given honestly”. At the heart of the scandal were News International’s claims that the phone-tapping was the work of a “rogue reporter” – royal reporter Clive Goodman. In his statement, Hinton says at the time he believed that to be the case. “When I appeared before the committee in March 2007, I expressed the belief that Clive Goodman had acted alone, but made clear our investigation was continuing. In September 2009, I told the committee there had never been any evidence delivered to me that suggested the conduct had spread beyond one journalist. If others had evidence that wrongdoing went further, I was not told about it.” Les Hinton Rupert Murdoch News of the World Phone hacking News International News Corporation United States Wall Street Journal Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk