Commenting on the conviction of a News of the World journalist a Hacked Off spokesman said:“The key finding is that a journalist (who cannot be named) working for News International (now News UK) has been found guilty on a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, which involved corrupt payments to a public official. This is the second conviction of this nature as Dan Evans pleaded guilty to a similar offence while working for the News of the World.

“This could well have implications for the parent company News Corporation and for the regulatory authorities in the US given that News Corp is governed by the terms of the Federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This is especially pertinent in the context of the News UK refusing to comply with the recommendations of a judge-led Public Inquiry which was overwhelmingly endorsed by Parliament and that the recommendations are designed to reduce the risk of recurrence and to ensure effective governance of newspapers.

“We will be drawing this to the attention of the US authorities and to the board of News Corporation so that they can such steps as they consider appropriate."