James Murdoch admitted in a letter to a committee of MPs on Wednesday that he could have asked further questions and conducted a more thorough investigation into allegations that the practice of phone hacking was widespread at News International.
In an unsolicited seven-page letter to the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, Murdoch expressed his deep regret over the phone-hacking scandal, but maintained he had not misled parliament over the affair.
"Clearly, with the benefit of hindsight, I acknowledge that wrongdoing should have been uncovered earlier," he said. "I could have asked more questions, requested more documents and taken a more challenging and sceptical view of what I was told, and I will do so in the future."
The letter was published by the committee on Wednesday as its members debated the conclusions of their report into phone hacking, which has now been delayed until after Easter. Their verdict on Murdoch, News Corporation's deputy chief operating officer, is seen as important to his business reputation and his prospects of remaining as chairman of BSkyB.
Murdoch's letter reiterates his long-held position that he did not mislead parliament by telling MPs he did not know that phone hacking was widespread at the News of the World when he agreed to the £725,000 payout to Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association.
There were signs of criticism of some of his former senior colleagues. Murdoch said: "It would have been better if I had not relied on the people who had assured me that thorough investigations had been carried out and that further investigations were unnecessary, and the statements made by the police to the same effect."
Murdoch later maintained that Tom Crone, the former head of legal at the Sun and News of the World, and Colin Myler, the former News of the World editor, could have disclosed more in April 2008 if they had "wanted to warn me that voicemail interception was more widespread". Instead, he said, "they said nothing that led me to believe a further investigation was necessary".
Separately, Neville Thurlbeck, the former chief reporter of the News of the World, was arrested on suspicion of intimidation of a witness by appointment at a central London police station at 4pm. The 51-year-old was arrested by officers working on the Operation Weeting investigation into phone hacking, and later bailed.
Last week, Thurlbeck posted part of the address of an executive on Rupert Murdoch's management standards committee in a blogpost. It included the street name but not the house number, it is understood, and it was later removed.
Thurlbeck said in a later blog that he "accepted … that printing the name of his street was distressing to his family and took this down immediately as I have absolutely no wish to do this".
It is the second time Thurlbeck has been arrested as part of Operation Weeting. Last April, he was held on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and unlawful interception of voicemail messages.
