Private detective says he was made a journalist by NOTW so paper could claim it did not employ outside investigators

Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator used by the News of the World to hack voicemails, told the paper's chief lawyer as early as 2007 that he had been instructed by the paper's former news editor as well as its royal reporter, a court heard yesterday.

There was "nothing exotic, unusual or improper" in an arrangement in which News Group Newspapers would pay private investigator Glenn Mulcaire's legal fees, a judge heard today.

Internal emails show that News International tried to influence the prosecution of former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman for phone hacking, the Leveson Inquiry heard today.

The publisher of the Mail on Sunday yesterday denied Hugh Grant's allegations at the Leveson Inquiry that key details obtained by the paper about his personal life could only have been obtained by the illegal interception of his voicemails.

Evidence suggests practice went beyond News International

A boss of mine once said: "I'm 40, never been fitter, playing the best squash of my life; the pro at the RAC is nearly 60, he never takes more than two steps in any direction and I've never got more than three points off him in a game."

The Electoral Commission is to be urged to hold an investigation into whether Rupert Murdoch's newspaper empire was covertly funding the Conservative Party while David Cameron was leader of the opposition.

Harbottle & Lewis was criticised for its analysis of emails which allegedly contained 'obvious' evidence of criminality

Just how damaging is this letter written by the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman in 2 March 2007? It is a dangerous weapon – now that it is in the hands of detectives and some very unhappy members of the House of Commons Culture Media and Sport Committee, who feel they have been led on a wild goose chase by executives at News International.

News International executives were told four years ago that phone hacking was rife at the News of the World and subsequently paid a jailed employee a quarter of a million pounds after he claimed that Andy Coulson authorised and then tried to hide the extent of it at the newspaper when he was editor.

There can be no excuses now. The latest revelations in the phone-hacking scandal have finally torpedoed News International's "rogue reporter" defence.

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson today faced fresh questions over his role in the phone-hacking scandal after MPs released documents claiming the practice was "widely discussed" at the newspaper.