Andy Coulson has said he was not party to any decision to hack Milly Dowler's phone and that he would not have known at that time the practice was illegal.
The ex-News of the World editor said he was "aware of" hacking "in very vague terms" as something "gossiped about".
But had he known it was going on he would have viewed it as "lazy journalism", he told the hacking trial.
Mr Coulson, 46, denies conspiracy to hack phones and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
The court has previously heard that Mr Coulson was in charge of the newspaper in April 2002 - when murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone was hacked - because editor Rebekah Brooks was on holiday.
The hacking was carried out by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, working for the paper.
Mr Coulson resigned from the News of the World following the conviction of Mulcaire and the tabloid's former royal editor Clive Goodman for phone hacking.
'Intrusive'Mr Coulson, who later worked as Downing Street director of communications, said rumours of phone hacking by newspapers were "in the ether" at the time.
But when asked by his barrister, Timothy Langdale QC, whether he was aware of any hacking by his paper in relation to Milly Dowler, he replied: "No I was not."
Asked whether - given he did not know at the time that hacking was a crime - he "would have had any problems with it", he replied: "I would have thought it was intrusive.
"I would have thought that it was a breach of privacy, and I also would have thought that it was lazy journalism.
"My attitudes were formed by the people I had worked for and the kind of reporter that I was, and neither the people I had worked for or myself as a reporter was interested in that - that kind of behaviour."
The first version of the newspaper on 14 April 2002 referred to material contained in voicemails on Milly's phone - but the references were subsequently removed in later editions.
Mr Coulson said he would have viewed it as an "unremarkable" story and it would not have occurred to him from the content that anybody at the News of the World may have hacked into her messages.
"I may have concluded that it came from sources, maybe police sources," he added.
Mr Coulson said the story was altered and moved from page nine to page 30 by the third edition for "cosmetic reasons" - "the mix" of serious and lighter stories was wrong - not, as the prosecution have suggested, to conceal references to voicemail hacking.
'No interference'Mr Coulson was asked about the paper's relationship with the police.
He said "catching criminals" was part of its "DNA" and that meant working closely with the police on many stories.
End Quote Andy CoulsonI think my instinctive concern would be that this was interference in a police investigation"
The relationship was not "without tensions or fall-outs" at times, but he said it was not the News of the World's role "to interfere in police investigations".
He said he did not remember being aware that two of his staff were in contact with police about Milly Dowler's voicemails.
But asked how he would have felt if he had known that his paper was accessing them, he said he would have been "very concerned about it".
"I think my instinctive concern would be that this was interference in a police investigation."
The court was told about numerous texts and phone calls between Mr Coulson and Mrs Brooks while he was in charge of the paper and she was on holiday in April 2002.
But Mr Coulson said he could not remember "having any conversation about Milly Dowler with her, Rebekah".
Mr Coulson is the last of seven defendants, who deny all charges against them, to give evidence.
The trial continues.
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