News Group Newspapers has been ordered to allow a search of computers alleged to contain evidence that News of the World executives deliberately destroyed damning phone-hacking evidence.

During legal discussions on Thursday before a civil trial scheduled for 13 February, the company failed to convince Mr Justice Vos that the search of three laptops assigned to senior employees and six desktop computers was "disproportionate".

Dinah Rose QC, for NGN, said the search was unnecessary because there had been "no policy of deliberate destruction" at the paper.

But Vos said that if he had "acceded to [NGN] suggestions back in early 2011 that disclosure was not necessary because admissions had been made, the phone-hacking history might be very different".

He said the material that might be found on the three laptops belonging to an unidentified senior employee of NGN "may well, on the evidence of the emails I have already been shown, contain documents or even emails which may bear on the policy of deletion.

"It seems to be a distinct possibility [that information on the laptops] could contain information relevant to the deliberate deletion of email and go beyond just 'colour' but indicate precisely what the deletion was taking place for, which may go far beyond scope of present admissions by NGN," he said. "I'm entirely satisfied that these laptops should be searched for purpose of relevant disclosure."

He said there were compelling questions about whether the paper had engaged in a campaign of deliberate destruction of evidence, had lied, deliberately concealed evidence, made payments to police, or had "actively tried to get off scot-free", including by destroying a "very substantial number of emails" and computers of journalists.

"The court has had an admission of sorts to the effect that NGN is content that aggravated damages should be paid on the basis of the somewhat startling admissions I have read out, but not that future claims should be assessed on that basis.

"I have been shown a number of emails ... which show a rather startling approach to the email record of NGN," he said. Three days after the solicitor for Sienna Miller had asked that NGN retained any emails in relation to phone hacking, "a previously conceived plan to conceal evidence was put in train by NGN managers".

Rose said so much had been disclosed and admitted by NGN that it was disproportionate to order the company to search the computers for further evidence. "There comes a point when we say we're three weeks away from trial and ... we can say enough is enough."

Her claim was robustly rebutted by Vos. "The day you can say 'that's enough' is the day I give judgment – although you can't even say it then because of the number of other cases waiting in the wings."

The trial, set to last three weeks, is intended to give guidance on damages for current and future lawsuits and out-of-court settlements in the five-year-old scandal.

But nine out of 10 of the claimants were still waiting for full disclosure from NGN, said their lawyer, Jeremy Reed.

In the cases of three, including Tracey Temple, John Prescott's former lover, NGN had yet to even admit liability, he said.

"I want to submit that evidence of deliberate destruction is relevant," he said, pointing out that, since Vos ordered NGN to make a full disclosure of material on 20 December 2011, the company had released just 30 more pages of information.

"This is like a jigsaw. The claimants are trying to piece it together but we're not sure we've even got all the pieces. Much has been lost or deliberately destroyed."