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Brooks cleared, Coulson guilty in UK phone-hacking trial

Rebekah Brooks arrives at the Old Bailey court in central London on April 23, 2014 to attend the phone-hacking trial/AFP

Rebekah Brooks arrives at the Old Bailey court in central London on April 23, 2014 to attend the phone-hacking trial/AFP

LONDON, Jun 24 – Former Rupert Murdoch confidante Rebekah Brooks was cleared of all charges while British Prime Minister David Cameron’s one-time media chief Andy Coulson was convicted of phone hacking in a dramatic end to the News of the World trial Tuesday.

The jury delivered their verdicts after eight days of deliberations and nearly eight months of evidence sparked by the scandal that led to News Corp boss Murdoch shutting down the Sunday tabloid in disgrace in July 2011.

Cameron swiftly gave a “full and frank apology” for hiring Coulson as his communications director despite knowing that the former News of the World editor had resigned from the paper when the hacking saga first emerged.

At the close of what had been dubbed the “trial of the century”, an emotional Brooks, 46, had to be supported by a court nurse after being acquitted of conspiring to intercept voicemails and of plotting to bribe officials for stories.

But while the flame-haired Brooks walked free from the Old Bailey court in London, Coulson, her former lover, faces jail following his conviction.

The pair had an on-off extra-marital affair for several years while working at the paper, a further taste of scandal that only emerged at the start of the trial.

The case centred on News of the World’s efforts to hack the phones of Britain’s royal family, politicians, celebrities and victims of crime, including a murdered schoolgirl and families of people killed in the July 7, 2005 London bombings.

Brooks’s current husband Charlie, a racehorse trainer, and News International director of security Mark Hanna were also cleared of perverting the course of justice by allegedly trying to hide evidence from the police. READ: Explosive evidence expected as UK phone hacking trial opens.

Her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter was cleared of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The paper’s retired managing editor Stuart Kuttner was also cleared of conspiracy to hack phones.

The scandal raised questions about the judgement of Cameron in hiring Coulson, 46, who resigned as editor of the News of the World in 2007 after a journalist and private investigator were convicted of phone hacking.

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