‘I suspect Murdoch regrets shutting NoW’

Mr Kuttner, who was cleared of all charges, told Channel 4 News that he was “deeply sorry, I am appalled and I am ashamed of what went on at the NoW unbeknownst to me”.

He added that he while he made no excuses for anything, “the other side of this is the way the CPS and the police…the stance that they took was suspicious and hostile”.

Mr Kuttner said: “I don’t believe [Rupert Murdoch] should ahve closed the paper down. It was a very bleak day for the very hardworking and trustworthy staff of NoW and the millions of readers. I suspect that was a decision [Rupert Murdoch] regretted.

“Did Murdoch hang me out to dry? I’ve no reason to believe that whatsoever.”

Cleared

On the not guilty verdict delivered by the jury on Tuesday, Mr Kuttner said: “I haven’t quite come down to earth yet. I’ve lived with this frankly hideous nightmare for three years. It’s been accusations, unfounded, there was no substance to it. But I was obviously part of a group who were to be rounded up and to play a role in, I don’t quite know how to describe it.

“I think the state, through its legal arms, to the Crown Prosecution Service, the Metropolitan Police Force, chose to take on the press…I am inclined to use the term stitch up, because that’s at heart what I believe it was.”