Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson in court as Britain’s phone hacking trial begins

Rupert Murdoch's former British newspaper chief and the British prime minister's ex-media head face trial with six others for conspiring to illegally access voicemail messages on mobile phones belonging to politicians, the famous and victims of crime, to obtain exclusive interviews.

LONDON // Rupert Murdoch’s former British newspaper chief and the British prime minister’s ex-media head went on trial for phone hacking yesterday at the start of one of Britain’s most high-profile court cases in years.

Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both former editors of Mr Murdoch’s defunct News of the World tabloid, are accused of conspiring to illegally access voicemail messages on mobile phones belonging to politicians, the rich and famous, and victims of crime and ordinary people, to obtain exclusive news.

The two, who face trial with six others, deny all charges.

The scandal sent shock waves through the British establishment and shook Mr Murdoch’s News Corp empire.

It revealed the close ties between media barons, police chiefs and senior politicians. The media industry is still at loggerheads with Cameron’s government over how it should be regulated.

“This trial concerns allegations of criminal conduct at the News of the World and the Sun newspapers that preceded the closure of the News of the World,” the judge, Justice John Saunders, said as jury selection began for the trial.

“It’s an important case. The trial we are about to start will take a considerable length of time. It’s estimated the case may last until Easter.”

Detectives launched an investigation in January 2011 and since then more than 125 people have been arrested and more than 40 charged.

The most prominent are Coulson, 45, and Brooks, a close friend of British prime minister, David Cameron Cameron. He attended her wedding in 2009 along with the then-premierGordon Brown.

Brooks, 45, was the first female editor of Mr Murdoch’s top-selling Sun paper and had risen to become head of News International, News Corp’s British newspaper arm, when the furore over phone hacking led to her resignation.

Coulson, who quit the News of the World in 2007, had acted as Mr Cameron’s communications chief until he resigned in 2011 saying the issue had become a distraction for the government.

They were both arrested in July 2011 and later charged with conspiracy to illegally intercept communications.

Brooks is also accused of two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office during her time at the Sun, and two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by hampering the police inquiry.

Coulson is additionally charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

They sat next to each other in the dock as jury selection began in a small, modern courtroom packed with media and about 20 of Britain’s top lawyers.

The judge warned the potential jurors they must ignore any of the mass of details about the allegations that have appeared in the media and decide the case only on the evidence that would be put before them.

* Reuters