UK tabloid ex-deputy cleared over phone-hacking

 The former deputy editor of Britain`s News of the World tabloid, which media tycoon Rupert Murdoch closed down four years ago over phone-hacking, was on Wednesday cleared of involvement in the practice.

London: The former deputy editor of Britain`s News of the World tabloid, which media tycoon Rupert Murdoch closed down four years ago over phone-hacking, was on Wednesday cleared of involvement in the practice.

A jury at London`s Old Bailey court found Neil Wallis, 64, not guilty of conspiring to hack phones while working alongside former editor Andy Coulson, who was jailed for hacking last year.

As he walked free from court, a tearful Wallis said the case had "ruined my life" and accused prosecutors of a "vicious politically-driven campaign against the press".

He is the last of dozens of News of the World journalists to be prosecuted over phone-hacking at the tabloid, which Murdoch shut down in July 2011 after revelations that a murdered schoolgirl was among those targeted.

In total eight of the tabloid`s reporters have been convicted of illegally accessing voicemails, including Coulson, a former director of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron.

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