"I don't think the illegality of it was ever even considered.
"It just seemed to be fair game,fair play,any means to get a story."
"It became a daily part of their news-gathering operation."
Hipwell and Morgan have a long history. Both were investigated as part of an inquiry into market manipulation after it emerged that Morgan had made a quick profit by buying shares which were promoted in the next day's edition of the paper.
Morgan was cleared of wrongdoing,but Hipwell and another tipster,Anil Bhoyrul,were convicted in 2005. Hipwell said that he always believed that his former boss had been as guilty as he was.
"I can understand why people think that I have an axe to grind against him,"Hipwell told the inquiry.
Meanwhile authorities said that they had arrested their first serving police officer as part of an investigation into bribes paid out by the country's journalists.
London police said that the 52-year-old woman,who has not been identified,was arrested in the early morning on suspicion of corruption and misconduct in a public office. The woman was detained at a house in Essex,in southeastern England,and is being questioned at a local police station.
Eight people,including a reporter working for The Sun tabloid,have so far been arrested as part of the police corruption inquiry,although no one has yet been charged.
The investigation is linked to police inquiries into tabloid phone and computer hacking.