Phone Hacking Scandal
What is the current situation?
In October 2013 the phone-hacking trial of Brooks, Coulson and six
others begins.
Alongside Rebekah Brooks and
Coulson was former managing editor Stuart Kuttner. Five others had pleaded
guilty to conspiracy to hack phones before the trial began: private
investigator Glenn Mulcaire, news editors James Weatherup and Greg Miskiw and
reporters Neville Thurlbeck and Dan Evans. Mulcaire performed thousands of
hacks for the newspaper under the instruction of news editors.
The newspaper's former royal
editor Clive Goodman was also charged with illegal payments to public officials
- as was Rebekah Brooks and Coulson.
Brooks' husband Charlie
Brooks, her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter and News International's
head of security Mark Hanna were accused of a conspiracy to hide material from
the police.
Mrs Brooks, Charlie Brooks,
Cheryl Carter, Mr Kuttner and Mr Hanna were cleared of all charges against
them.
The jury was discharged after
failing to reach verdicts on charges that Coulson and Goodman conspired to
commit misconduct in a public office by paying police officers for two royal
directories.
How did it get this way?
Glenn Mulcaire and Clive
Goodman were jailed seven years ago after pleading guilty to intercepting
voicemails - but that first trial only concerned a small number of cases.
Police did not go through all the evidence seized from Mulcaire. Two years
later it emerged that News International had agreed a series of confidential
out-of-court settlements which had prevented more allegations being aired.
What is your informed opinion
about the issue?
This issue is seriously wrong because of how it breeches peoples privacy and also because the phones of people who died have been hacked included ex service men and women. I believe that because of the
seriousness of this trial that anyone who is found to have hacked any ones
phones (such as Milly Dowler) should be prosecuted but should be given a fair
trial.
