COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks has walked free from the Old Bailey after she was found not guilty of all charges related to the phone-hacking trial.



The jury found Mrs Brooks not guilty of conspiracy to hack voicemails, two counts of conspiracy to pay public officials and two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

She was overcome by emotion on hearing the verdicts and was taken away by the court matron.

Mrs Brooks' fellow editor and former No 10 spin doctor Andy Coulson was found guilty of plotting to hack phones while he worked at the News of the World.

Coulson, who was forced to resign as Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications over the scandal, now faces the possibility of jail following the high-profile trial.

Retired managing editor Stuart Kuttner was also cleared of being part of a conspiracy dating back to 2000 and spanning six years.

Brooks’s former personal assistant Cheryl Carter was cleared of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Brooks’s husband Charlie and NI director of security Mark Hanna were also cleared of perverting the course of justice.

The jury is still considering further charges against Coulson and former NotW royal editor Clive Goodman of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office by paying police officers for two royal directories.

Today Pime Minister David Cameron gave a “full and frank apology” for employing Mr Coulson at 10 Downing Street, saying: “It was the wrong decision and I am very clear about that.”

Cameron gave a “full and frank apology”

Cameron in trouble for talking too soon on Coulson



The jury in the phone-hacking trial has been discharged after failing to reach agreement on whether Andy Coulson, David Cameron's former media adviser, was guilty of authorising illegal payments.

Coulson, who had edited Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid, was on Tuesday found guilty of conspiring to hack into phones, and is due to be sentenced next week.

He and ex-News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman had also been accused of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office by paying police officers for two royal directories. But the jurors were discharged after failing to reach a verdict during nine days of deliberation.

It can now be reported that the judge was heavily critical of David Cameron and other politicians for commenting on his former spin doctor Andy Coulson's conviction for phone hacking, while the jury was still deliberating. The judge said that the phone hacking trial almost collapsed in its final stages as a result.

Trial judge Mr Justice Saunders said he was "very concerned" that David Cameron said he was "extremely sorry" for employing Coulson after the verdicts on phone-hacking were announced on Tuesday.

The judge will consider the possibility of a re-trial over these two remaining charges of illegal payments, next Monday.

Cameron in trouble for talking too soon on Coulson