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| NoW news editor 'used hand signal' to tell Andy Coulson of phone hacking | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A former News of the World news editor has told a criminal trial in Scotland that phone hacking was “systematic” at the paper and Andy Coulson knew about it when he was editor of the Sunday tabloid. | A former News of the World news editor has told a criminal trial in Scotland that phone hacking was “systematic” at the paper and Andy Coulson knew about it when he was editor of the Sunday tabloid. |
| When James Weatherup was accused of lying he said he was “100% sure” of his evidence. He said he did not want to give evidence and he that he felt sorry for Coulson and his family. He said it was a “gross slur” on his character to suggest he was lying. | |
| Weatherup said he would use a hand signal to indicate to Coulson if stories had come from phone hacking when his editor asked him about the source of certain stories. | Weatherup said he would use a hand signal to indicate to Coulson if stories had come from phone hacking when his editor asked him about the source of certain stories. |
| He told the high court in Edinburgh, where Coulson is standing trial on perjury charges, that he went to Coulson shortly after he arrived on the paper as news editor in 2004. He was under pressure to cut the newsdesk budget and wanted to cut the £92,000-a-year contract with Glenn Mulcaire’s firm Nine Consultancy. | |
| “Did Mr Coulson appear to be aware or not that Mr Mulcaire was hacking phones?” prosecutor Richard Goddard asked. | “Did Mr Coulson appear to be aware or not that Mr Mulcaire was hacking phones?” prosecutor Richard Goddard asked. |
| “Hacking phones was systematic at the News of the World,” said Weatherup. “Andy would have known that Mulcaire was hacking phones,” he added. | “Hacking phones was systematic at the News of the World,” said Weatherup. “Andy would have known that Mulcaire was hacking phones,” he added. |
| He said he used Mulcaire’s services 137 times and some of those occasions, which he put at “less than a majority”, were for phone hacking. He said he had a system of indicating phone hacking was involved when Coulson, who was editor from 2003 to 2007, queried the source of a story. | |
| Making a gesture with his hand in the shape of a phone, he said: “I would have used a signal at least two or three times when Andy asked me where did that story come from.” Asked what the gesture was indicating, he replied: “As indicating he was involved in phone hacking activities.” | |
| Coulson is accused of lying under oath about his knowledge of phone hacking at the perjury trial of the Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan in 2010. He denies the charge. | Coulson is accused of lying under oath about his knowledge of phone hacking at the perjury trial of the Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan in 2010. He denies the charge. |
| Weatherup said executives on the NoW knew hacking was taking place at the paper and that it was discussed in news meetings. | |
| “There was one time when Andy asked where the story had come from and another executive piped up: it’s the dark arts, boss.” | |
| “Did Andy say what on earth are you talking about?” | |
| “No.” | |
| “He actually said not to use that language any more? Was he seriously counselling people not to use that language in conference?” | |
| After a pause, Weatherup replied: “No, he wasn’t joking.” | |
| In cross-examination by Murdo MacLeod, Coulson’s QC, Weatherup was accused of lying about the meeting in which he claimed he told him he wanted to cut Mulcaire’s contract. | |
| “I have to suggest to you that no such conversation took place, is that correct?” | |
| “No, it’s not,” replied Weatherup, adding that he was 100% sure of his evidence. He also said he was 100% sure that he held a hand up to his ear as if it was a telephone to indicate to Coulson that hacking was involved in a story. | |
| “Can I suggest to you that this is just nonsense on your behalf? You’re making this up,” said MacLeod. | |
| “Well I’ve got no reason to lie. I feel sorry for Andy, I feel sorry for his wife, I feel sorry for his children. I have no reason to lie,” he replied. | |
| Asked by Goddard how he felt about the suggestion he was not telling the truth in his evidence, Weatherup said he had just one thing to say. “That is a gross slur on my character and it’s not true. I’ve not come here to lie. | |
| “I’ve just come here to tell the truth, reluctantly. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be giving evidence. I want to get over all of this, but it keeps coming back to haunt me.” | |
| Weatherup, who told jurors he was sacked from the NoW in 2011, said he was still in dispute with the paper’s publishers and was talking them to an employment tribunal. He said he had an agreed redundancy of £186,000 but was fighting to get “whatever I’m entitled to”. | |
| “Executives knew that phone hacking was going on and knew it was part and parcel of life at the News of the World and it was unfair to sack me when they knew it was going on,” he said. | |
| Jurors heard that Weatherup had pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to hack phones and received a four-month suspended sentence last year along with 200 hours’ community work. | |
| Coulson is on trial for allegedly lying under oath at the perjury trial of Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan in 2010. He denies the charge. | |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |