News International phone hacking scandal the new allegations, along with high-ranking officers of the Metropolitan Police Service. News International's legal manager Tom Crone left the company on 13 July. As part of his role at the publisher, Crone had served as the "News of the World" chief lawyer and gave evidence before parliamentary committees, that he had uncovered no evidence of phone hacking beyond the criminal offences committed by the royal editor Clive Goodman. He maintained that he did not see an internal report suggesting that phone hacking at the paper went beyond Goodman. On 15 July, Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International,
News media phone hacking scandal and politicians filed for breach of privacy against News of the World alone. As of early October 2011, there were reportedly 63 civil suits directed at News International relating to the phone hacking scandal. Noting that there might be many more cases initiated over phone hacking, high court judge Mr Justice Vos selected test cases that "would enable him to decide the damages that were properly payable across a range of alleged factual situations, and make it possible for other cases to be resolved without the need for further hearings." He added that the trial would cover the issues of