William and Kate 'embarrassed' by hacking revelations, says NoW reporter

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/19/william-kate-phone-hacking-clive-goodman-now

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The royal family has been "embarrassed" by revelations that the News of the World had frequently hacked the phones of Prince William and Kate Middleton, it has been claimed at the Old Bailey.

Clive Goodman, the former royal editor at the paper, said the police and the Crown Prosecution Service had known he had hacked their phones in 2006 when he was first arrested but they had decided to "ringfence" the royals so they wouldn't have to be part of a public trial.

He was convicted of hacking three royal aides – Helen Asprey, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton and Paddy Harverson – in 2006 but his hacking of the princes and William's then girlfriend only emerged last week in the phone-hacking trial.

"The police knew about the hacking of Prince William and Prince Harry, the CPS knew, and they were the ones that chose they wanted to ringfence the enquiry so they didn't embarrass members of the royal family.

"Those members of the royal family have been embarrassed by this trial," Goodman said.

Goodman is not on trial for hacking but for an offence related to the trial centring on payments to public officials for a confidential royal phone directory.

The lead prosecutor, Andrew Edis QC, accused Goodman of only confessing to hacking the royal princes and Kate Middleton after receiving guarantees that he would not face further prosecution.

Last week he revealed that he had hacked Kate Middleton 155 times, Prince William 35 times and Prince Harry nine times.

Goodman denied he had only confessed to the extra hacking once he had been cleared of future prosecution.

"All I could do was answer the questions put to me," he said of the cross-examination last week which drew him on the hacking of the royals.

Edis said "it cannot be true that you did not remember hacking William", whom he described as was "one of the most protected targets in the country". He reminded him that he had previously testified that he could not recall specific hacking targets beyond those involved in his 2006 conviction.

Goodman said "it wasn't a lie" when he told the jury that he didn't recall hacking the Duke of Cambridge.

Edis put it to him that he only admitted to the additional hacking after being "freed up" by the CPS.

"After you said you couldn't remember, the Crown Prosecution Service was asked to make clear whether you were at risk of prosecution for phone hacking in yet another trial in the future," he said.

"They said there wasn't going to be another trial into phone hacking involving you.

"This freed you up, and you told the truth."

Goodman told the court that he was under "pressure" under cross-examination in March and had been ill at the time. He reminded the jury he had been absent from the trial for two months with heart problems and two bouts of pneumonia.

He said it was unfair to characterise his earlier response about Prince William as a lie. "I was under a lot of pressure, and I didn't know what the purpose of the questioning was," he said.

"I am not on trial for phone hacking, and everyone keeps asking me about phone hacking.

"I was quite ill at the time, I had a heart operation, I was back in hospital, I had a further heart condition, suffered pneumonia twice, he said. 'I think it is unfair to say I got things confused when I didn't.'

Edis accused Goodman of hiding the hacking in 2007 during his unfair dismissal claim against News International to avoid incriminating himself.

Goodman claims editor Andy Coulson knew about some of the hacking, but said he didn't think he knew about the hacking of the princes.

He said he didn't owe Coulson any "favours" but he was "also not going to make up stuff" about his former editor who has been charged with conspiring to hack phones.

He admitted he was "astonished" when convicted hacker Glenn Mulcaire with whom he worked, obtained the direct voicemail number for Kate Middleton and Prince William.

He said Mulcaire obtained them as a "flourishes". They were "very difficult targets" and he wanted to "show off that he could do it".

Goodman has admitted sending emails to Coulson and others about police sources but denies he ever paid officers or that he had such sources.

He told Edis that if he had read Elizabeth Filkin's report on police and journalists he would know that "police contact" was the "most misused phrase in newspapers".

Goodman said it was acceptable to exaggerate sources and was "the journalist equivalent of 'the cheque's in the post'."

He said his claims to have had police sources was "a sales technique, to get a story in the paper".

Goodman and Coulson deny all charges against them.

The trial continues.