As the News of the World (NoTW) phone-hacking scandal exploded around the world, Bermudian Dexter Smith was inside the paper’s newsroom in Wapping, East London, wondering to himself what would happen next.Mr Smith has worked at NoTW sister paper The Times since 2001, rising to the position of senior sports sub-editor.He has found himself not only caught up in all the buzz inside, but having to dodge the constant media attention outside the entrance to The Times’ offices.The former Royal Gazette sports editor and Bermuda cricketer said the events of the past few weeks have been unsettling to say the least.“It was a bit uneasy at first because with every day came further developments,” Mr Smith said, adding, “The situation is still very toxic.”“It was surreal being the news instead of focusing primarily on reporting it but we pulled together and have coped with it.”He said management has tried to keep him and his colleagues abreast of major developments in the spectacle. Mr Smith said he did not have any mates working at NoTW but they all share offices.“We all moved into the same new offices late last year, a stone’s throw from the previous location. News of the World were a floor below us,” Mr Smith said.No-one was exactly caught by surprise by the turn of events, he added. It was really only the British public’s turning on the tabloid that caused such a sensation.“This hacking story has been doing the rounds for several years so it is something we were all aware of,” Mr Smith said.“It is only the latest developments and it’s the (allegations) that Milly Dowler’s (a 13-year-old who was murdered) phone was hacked into that has got the British public into such an uproar.“Before that, there were cases of celebrities having been hacked and the general feeling, looking on from a distance, was that they were fair game.“Having said that, it is not something I condone or we here at The Times condone.”Milly Dowler was killed in 2002.Mr Smith explained: “The uproar over her phone allegedly being hacked into was that it falsely gave her family hope that she was still alive because voicemail messages were being deleted in the period after she was reported missing.”The big news on the weekend was the arrest of Rebekah Brooks, after she resigned as chief executive of News International, the publisher of NoTW.Mr Smith had this to say about that development: “The reaction to Rebekah stepping down was one of belated inevitability.“Rupert Murdoch was coming under tremendous pressure and he regrettably had to accept that she must leave. The healing process begins now with full apologies to the British public, starting with the Dowler family.”He added: “Rebekah’s resignation was well received, not from a celebration sense, mind you, but in that it was something that had to happen so that a line could be drawn somewhat.”Mr Smith said he and his colleagues are all now waiting to see what arises from Mrs Brooks’ expected appearance tomorrow before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the British House of Commons.