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No Verdict on Further Charges Against Coulson in British Hacking Case British Hacking Jury Dismissed After Failing to Reach Verdict on Remaining Charges
(about 2 hours later)
LONDON — A British jury on Wednesday failed to reach a verdict on additional charges against Andy Coulson, a former editor in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and onetime top adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, who was found guilty a day earlier of phone hacking. LONDON — The jury in Britain’s long-running phone-hacking trial was dismissed on Wednesday after it failed to reach a verdict on additional charges against Andy Coulson, a former editor in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and onetime top adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr. Coulson was found guilty on Tuesday on phone hacking charges.
Mr. Coulson, 46, was the only person convicted on Tuesday after a seven-month trial covering what one defendant called hacking on “an industrial scale” at The News of the World, a Sunday tabloid that Mr. Murdoch closed down after the scandal erupted in July 2011. The dismissal came after more than seven months of testimony, and prosecutors said they would announce on Monday whether they would seek a retrial.
Along with Clive Goodman, a former royals reporter at The News of the World, Mr. Coulson was also facing two charges relating to corrupt payments to police officers in return for royal telephone directories. But, after deliberating on the charges, the jury failed to reach a verdict and a judge discharged the panel. It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Coulson and Mr. Goodman would face a retrial. Judge John Saunders, who is expected to announce a sentence for Mr. Coulson next week, on Wednesday took the unusual step of castigating Mr. Cameron for making a public statement about his former aide after the hacking conviction while the jury was still deliberating on two additional charges against Mr. Coulson and Clive Goodman, a former royal-news editor at the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid.
In rulings on Tuesday, the jury acquitted Rebekah Brooks, once the head of Mr. Murdoch’s newspaper operations in Britain, who had edited The News of the World for three years before Mr. Coulson took over in 2003. Ms. Brooks had been regarded as one of the most powerful people in British tabloid journalism. Judge Saunders said he had written to Mr. Cameron’s private secretary after the prime minister said on television that he was sorry he had hired Mr. Coulson as his spokesman and that it had been a mistake to do so.
While the verdicts on Tuesday were unanimous, a judge had earlier told the jury that he would accept a majority verdict in the other cases against Mr. Coulson and Mr. Goodman. “I asked for an explanation from the prime minister as to why he had issued his statement while the jury was still considering verdicts,” Judge Saunders said in court. “My sole concern is to ensure that justice is done. Politicians have other imperatives and I understand that. Whether the political imperative was such that statements could not await all the verdicts, I leave to others to judge.”
Mr. Coulson’s conviction reignited a political firestorm over Mr. Cameron’s decision to hire him as communications chief in 2007, while his Conservative Party was in opposition, and retaining Mr. Coulson in that role after he came to power in the 2010 elections. Mr. Coulson and Mr. Goodman were accused of making payments to police security officers in return for in-house royal telephone directories, but the jury said Wednesday that it had been unable to reach a verdict.
Mr. Cameron apologized on Tuesday for hiring Mr. Coulson, but the opposition Labour Party has argued that Mr. Cameron should now explain why Mr. Coulson was not obliged to undergo a higher level of security vetting when Mr. Cameron took office and the former editor became a senior official at 10 Downing Street. The jury’s’s dismissal means that Mr. Coulson, 46, is so far the only person convicted in the case, which involved what one defendant called hacking on “an industrial scale” at The News of the World, a Sunday tabloid that Mr. Murdoch closed down after the scandal erupted in July 2011. He could face up to two years in prison.
Labour politicians have also accused Mr. Cameron of showing impaired judgment in hiring Mr. Coulson, accusing the prime minister of pandering to Mr. Murdoch in an effort to secure electoral endorsement by the tycoon’s newspapers in Britain. The accusations were aired in Parliament on Wednesday at a regular encounter between the prime minister and questioners, when Mr. Cameron insisted that he had been exonerated by an inquiry into the behavior and culture of the British press led by Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson. On Tuesday, the jury acquitted Rebekah Brooks, the former head of Mr. Murdoch’s newspaper operations in Britain, who had edited The News of the World for three years before Mr. Coulson took over in 2003. Ms. Brooks, once regarded as one of the most powerful people in British tabloid journalism, had faced charges relating to phone hacking and obstructing justice.
While the verdicts on Tuesday were unanimous, the judge told the jury that he would accept a majority verdict in the additional charges against Mr. Coulson and Mr. Goodman.
Mr. Coulson’s conviction reignited a political firestorm over Mr. Cameron’s decision to hire him as communications chief in 2007, while his Conservative Party was in opposition, and to retain Mr. Coulson in that role after he came to power in the 2010 elections. The opposition Labour Party has argued that Mr. Cameron should now explain why Mr. Coulson was not obliged to undergo a higher level of security vetting when Mr. Cameron took office and the former editor became a senior government official at 10 Downing Street.
Labour politicians have also said Mr. Cameron had showed poor judgment in hiring Mr. Coulson, accusing the prime minister of pandering to Mr. Murdoch in an effort to secure electoral endorsement by his newspapers in Britain. The accusations were aired in Parliament on Wednesday at a regular encounter between the prime minister and questioners, when Mr. Cameron insisted that he had been exonerated by an inquiry into the behavior and culture of the British press led by Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson.
The Leveson inquiry concluded in November 2012. The 1,987-page report reprising nine months of testimony by 337 witnesses urged the creation of a new system of press regulation.The Leveson inquiry concluded in November 2012. The 1,987-page report reprising nine months of testimony by 337 witnesses urged the creation of a new system of press regulation.
Mr. Cameron said that the decision not to subject Mr. Coulson to more stringent vetting had been taken by officials and that the Leveson inquiry had found that these were “the correct procedures.” Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party, said Mr. Cameron had ignored repeated warnings about Mr. Coulson, but the prime minister said that “every single one of these issues was dealt with by the Leveson inquiry.”
Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party, said Mr. Cameron had ignored repeated warnings about Mr. Coulson, the prime minister said that “every single one of these issues was dealt with by the Leveson inquiry.” The phone hacking scandal had been simmering for several years before it erupted with full force in July 2011, when The News of the World was found to have hacked into the voice mail of Milly Dowler, a teenager who had been abducted and was later found to have been murdered.
Gemma Dowler, her elder sister, used a videotaped message on Wednesday to urge British politicians to put the Leveson inquiry’s recommendations on press regulation into effect. She also assailed “the incestuous relationship between our top politicians and the press” and criticized a new press regulator, supported by many newspapers, as “meaningless.”
“Ordinary people have suffered terribly from journalists who recklessly intruded into private grief and stole private information,” Ms. Dowler said, adding, “Something needs to be done to make sure what happened to my family doesn’t happen again.”