Phone-hacking: NoW reporter Neville Thurlbeck takes publisher to tribunal

NoW's former chief reporter taking defunct tabloid's publishers to an employment tribunal, claiming he was a whistleblower

A News of the World reporter at the heart of the phone-hacking scandal is taking the defunct tabloid's publishers to an employment tribunal, claiming he was a whistleblower.

Neville Thurlbeck, the paper's former chief reporter, is claiming that he was unfairly dismissed by Rupert Murdoch's News Interrnational. There is scheduled to be a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in east London this Friday. It has only just come to light that Thurlbeck who had been behind a string of high-profile exclusives at the News of the World had been fired by the company.

News International said: "We will vigorously contest this case." Thurlbeck was arrested in April on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages but remained on the payroll of the paper until recently, possibly this month.

Thurlbeck has been a key figure in the phone-hacking scandal his name appeared on an email sent to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire which contained a transcript of messages left on a mobile phone belonging to professional footballers association chief executive Gordon Taylor.

This "for Neville" email took centre stage in July when Rupert Murdoch and his son James appeared before MPs who believed it was evidence they knew phone hacking was not limited to one "rogue reporter" at the paper. Both the Murdochs denied this was the case. Employment law experts say it is only possible to use the Public Interest Disclosures Act which protects whistleblowers from losing their jobs in particular circumstances.

Ruth Neil, of employment law firm Stone Joseph, said that there are "very specific rules" in terms of what an individual whistleblower can claim under the act. She said to use it as a defence it was necessary to have reported any alleged wrongdoing to another person in authority, such as a police officer or other public servant.

! A source familiar with the matter said Thurlbeck's use of the whistleblower's defence was "an extraordinary tactic to deploy".

Neil said that it can be used as a defence if confidential information is disclosed about an employer, which is normally a breach of common law. If he wins his case it will also entitle him to unlimited damages. Normally compensation for unfair dismissals are capped at 68,400.

The sums involved in whistleblowers' cases can be enormous by comparison. An NHS manager unfairly dismissed "as a whistleblower" over plans to relocate cancer services out of his county was awarded 1.2m in compensation.

Last week Thurlbeck was at the centre of a privacy action in France relating to a 2008 "exclusive" concerning Formula one boss Mosley who was awarded 60,000 in 2008 after winning his privacy action against the Sunday tabloid in the UK.

In a separate development, Thurlbeck answered police bail along with two former News of the World journalists, Ian Edmondon, the paper's former assistant editor (news) and reporter James Weatherup.

Thurlbeck and Edmondson were bailed until March.

Thurlbeck could not be reached for comment.


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