Post date: Nov 01, 2013 2:40:54 PM
Prosecutors in a London court trial into phone-hacking tell the court that when Andy Coulson was editor of the News of the World, he told a journalist working on a story about a celebrity to "do his phone".
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 1, 2013) (ITN) - Andy Coulson, then editor of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, instructed a journalist working on a story about a celebrity to "do his phone", a jury trying Coulson and others for phone-hacking was told on Friday (November 1).
Coulson, fellow former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, and two senior employees of Murdoch's British group News International are accused of conspiring to intercept voicemails for stories.
Coulson, who after leaving the News of the World went on to be Prime MinisterDavid Cameron's media chief, and Brooks, who rose to be chief executive of News International, also face two charges each of making illegal payments to public officials.
In total, eight defendants are in the dock on various charges related to phone-hacking, illegal payments for stories, and hindering police investigations. They all deny the charges.
The Old Bailey, England's Central Criminal Court, heard that in May 2006, the paper was planning to run an exclusive story about the private life of Calum Best, the son of former Manchester United soccer star George Best.
During an email exchange with Ian Edmondson, a former journalist also on trial, Coulson discussed whether Best might leak the story to others.
"Do his phone," Coulson wrote in an email shown to the jury.
Prosecutor Andrew Edis told the jurors they would have to weigh up what he meant.
Earlier, the court heard the News of the World had hacked the phones of politicians, royal aides, celebrities, actors and high-profile sportsmen.
They included England soccer star Wayne Rooney, actors Jude Law and Sienna Miller, and Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Prince Charles's second wife Camilla.