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Rebekah Brooks, the high profile former Chief Executive of media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News International, today appeared in court to face charges related to phone-hacking at the now-defunct News of the World.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had announced in July that Brooks and Andy Coulson, who was Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications, were among eight people who face a total of 19 charges related to phone-hacking.
44-year-old Rebekah Brooks, former News of the World (NoW) editor, appeared at the Westminster Magistrates Court, and confirmed her address and date of birth.
She denies the charges against her.
The seven others, including Andy Coulson, 44, appeared in court earlier and were next due to appear at the Southwark Crown Court on September 26.
Rebekah Brooks was told today that she will also be required to appear in the same court on the day with the others charged.
All eight have been charged with conspiring to intercept communications between October 13, 2001 and August 9, 2006, including those of the murder teenager Milly Dowler.
Announcing the CPS decision to charge them, Alison Levitt, Principal Legal Adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, had said, “All the evidence has now carefully been considered. I have concluded that in relation to eight of these thirteen suspects there is sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction in relation to one or more offences.
”...(Prosecution) is required in the public interest in relation to each of these eight suspects,” Alison Levitt said.
The charges had been framed against them following evidence presented to the CPS.
The evidence was gathered during a series of ongoing inquiries initiated by Scotland Yard.
The CPS said there were more than 600 victims of phone-hacking.
Besides Milly Dowler, the charges against the eight include hacking into the phone of leading individuals include senior Labour leaders Charles Clarke, John Prescott and David Blunkett, and celebrities such as Wayne Rooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Paul McCartney.
Besides Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, others facing charges are former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, former news editor Greg Miskiw, former assistant editor Ian Edmondson, former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, former assistant editor James Weatherup and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
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