Your otherwise excellent leading article on the conviction of Mazher Mahmood (An abuse of power, 7 October) did not address the responsibility of his employers, Rupert Murdoch’s News UK.
This was only the latest instance of criminality involving News UK journalists and if something comparable was uncovered at, say, a hospital trust, a retail chain or the BBC, we can be certain that the Sun and the Times, among others, would be baying for inquiries and resignations. Yet there is no sign of introspection or contrition, let alone accountability, among those Murdoch executives who for years funded and defended Mahmood’s activities in the teeth of clear warnings such as those described by your own Roy Greenslade (Analysis, 6 October).
That this guilty verdict comes just days after the Guardian reported an unannounced meeting between Murdoch and Theresa May (Report, 30 September) is all the more alarming. The second phase of the Leveson inquiry, examining press criminality, management failures and the role of the police, cannot begin soon enough.
Professor Brian Cathcart
Kingston University
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