The editor of the Daily Mirror has conceded that phone hacking may have occurred at the newspaper.
Richard Wallace, who has edited the tabloid since 2004, told the Leveson Inquiry into British press standards that voicemail interception might have taken place in the newsroom without his knowledge.
But he insisted that there are “significant positives” in tabloid journalism and said he was confident that reporters who worked at the newspaper acted within the code of practice.
Counsel to the inquiry David Barr asked Mr Wallace if he knew about hacking at the paper.
“Not to my knowledge,” replied Mr Wallace.
Mr Barr asked if it might have occurred without his knowledge.
“It might well have,” said Mr Wallace.
He said it was possible that a story the newspaper ran about Sven Goran Eriksson’s affair with Ulrika Jonsson in 2002 might have come from the interception of voicemail messages.
Mr Wallace, who has worked at the paper for more than two decades, said it was “possible” that the source of the story could have been a hacked message.
Piers Morgan, who was editor of the paper at the time, flatly denied intercepting Jonsson’s messages when he appeared before the inquiry.
Mr Wallace also used his platform at the inquiry to apologise to Chris Jefferies, who was wrongfully arrested on suspicion of the murder of architect Jo Yeates.
He said: “I wish to express my sincerest regret to Mr Jefferies, his family and friends who had to see this unfold.
“We obviously caused him and his nearest and dearest great distress which I regret, personally, greatly and I regard it as a black mark on my editing record.”
Mr Jefferies, Miss Yeates’s former landlord, previously told the inquiry that the national press “shamelessly vilified” him.
One Daily Mirror front page carried the headline "Jo Suspect is Peeping Tom" beneath a photograph of Mr Jefferies, and another front-page headline read "Was Killer Waiting In Jo's Flat?", with sub-headings below reading "Police seize bedding for tests" and "Landlord held until Tuesday".
The inquiry, which is hearing today from executives from Trinity Mirror, which publishes five national newspapers and more than 160 regional papers, also heard evidence from Sunday Mirror editor Tina Weaver.
Ms Weaver said she was not aware of phone hacking at her newspaper but there was no guarantee that it had not occurred.
PA