A former News of the World reporter whose evidence helped to convict a senior counter-terrorism officer has attacked Rupert Murdoch's media empire for its role in the case, saying it had broken a tenet of journalism by revealing a source.
Tim Wood accused the body set up by News Corp to inquire into phone hacking and alleged corrupt payments to public officials of sacrificing Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn so the company could protect its reputation and its share price.
Casburn, 53, yesterday became the first person to be jailed as part of the Scotland Yard probe into voicemail interception and bribery by journalists.
She was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment after offering to sell information to the defunct Sunday tabloid.
Wood was praised by Justice Fulford as a reliable, honest and disinterested witness after the trial of Casburn, who had phoned the NOTW newsdesk in 2010 and sought payment for intelligence about the re-opening of the phone-hacking inquiry by police.
