Prosecutors Make Their Case in U.K. Phone-Hacking Trial

Updated Oct. 31, 2013 6:50 p.m. ETLONDON—Prosecutors on Thursday told jurors that a multiyear affair between former News Corp editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson was an indication of their trust in each other, and that the two shared crucial information about the illegal interception of mobile-phone messages, including those of murdered teenager Milly Dowler.
In two days of opening statements at a criminal trial, prosecutors have painted a picture of an elaborate system of ordering up and paying for phone hacking at the News of the World. They allege that as senior editors, Ms. Brooks and Mr. Coulson must have known it was occurring and, based on their close personal relationship, shared information about it. In a letter to Mr. Coulson that prosecutors said police found on Ms. Brooks’ computer, she allegedly wrote, “I tell you everything, I confide in you.”
Both served as top editors at News Corp’s NWSA +1.41% News Corp Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $17.59 +0.24 +1.41% Oct. 31, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 4.64M AFTER HOURS $18.04 +0.45 +2.53% Oct. 31, 2013 6:03 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 58,908 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $10.12 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $370,458 10/31/13 Newspapers’ Circulation Measur… 10/31/13 Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson H… 10/30/13 Guilty Pleas Disclosed in Phon… More quote details and news » NWSA in Your Value Your Change Short position now-defunct News of the World tabloid when much of the phone hacking at the center of the criminal case took place. Prosecutors told jury members the alleged affair is central to understanding the roles Ms. Brooks and Mr. Coulson allegedly played in the hacking.

U.K. prosecutors alleged that former colleagues Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks had an affair for years. European Pressphoto Agency

Miss Dowler went missing in 2002, and was later found dead. The disclosure that News of the World journalists had listened to her cellphone voice mail while she was missing triggered a widespread public backlash. News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch closed the paper shortly after and apologized for the hacking of Miss Dowler’s phone.
Ms. Brooks, a close confidante of Mr. Murdoch, served as top editor for the News of the World and the Sun, before taking the reins as chief executive of News Corp’s U.K. newspaper division. She has pleaded not guilty to five charges related to phone hacking, bribery and obstruction of justice.
Mr. Coulson succeeded Ms. Brooks as top editor at the News of the World and later moved to 10 Downing Street as the top spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr. Coulson has pleaded not guilty to three charges related to phone hacking and bribery.
Prosecutors previously disclosed that other journalists at the paper had already pleaded guilty to phone-hacking related offenses. They have also detailed alleged payments made by journalists at the paper for phone-hacking assignments.

U.K. prosecutors alleged that former colleagues Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks had an affair for years. Getty Images

The prosecutors’ statement about an affair also puts in the public record an allegation that is embarrassing to both News Corp and the British government. Prosecutors said the affair likely ended before Mr. Coulson moved to 10 Downing Street. An affair between a top deputy to Mr. Murdoch and a senior aide to Mr. Cameron would further underscore perceptions in Britain of a too-cozy relationship between the government and the press.
Mr. Coulson resigned as News of the World editor in 2007, in the wake of one of the paper’s journalists and a private investigator on the company’s payroll pleading guilty to phone-hacking charges. Mr. Cameron, who hired Mr. Coulson shortly after he left the paper, has faced public criticism for that decision.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Cameron declined to comment. A spokeswoman for News Corp’s U.K. newspaper unit declined to comment on the prosecutor’s statements.
News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, was part of a larger company also called News Corp., that in June split in two, spinning off its television, movie and entertainment businesses into a new company, 21st Century Fox. FOXA +0.43% 21st Century Fox Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $34.08 +0.15 +0.43% Oct. 31, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 10.81M AFTER HOURS $34.08 -0.00 -0.00% Oct. 31, 2013 5:14 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 554,008 P/E Ratio 11.25 Market Cap $75.33 Billion Dividend Yield 0.73% Rev. per Employee $1,081,050 10/31/13 Animation Studio Tries for a H… 10/31/13 Disney’s Mouse Has Room to Roa… 10/24/13 FCC Set to Ease Media Ownershi… More quote details and news » FOXA in Your Value Your Change Short position
Six other defendants, including Ms. Brooks’s husband, Charlie Brooks, a friend of Mr. Cameron, also have pleaded not guilty to a series of charges related to the hacking.
On Thursday, lead prosecutor Andrew Edis zeroed in on an April 2002 News of the World story about Ms. Dowler. The prosecutor said in the run-up to publication of the story, the paper tapped into her cellphone’s voice mail and dispatched reporters to collect information about where she might be. At the time of the story, Mr. Coulson—then deputy editor—was standing in for Ms. Brooks, who was the paper’s top editor but was on holiday in Dubai the week before the story.
The prosecutor spelled out that the story in the paper’s early editions contained detailed quotes from voice mails left on Miss Dowler’s phone, but the article in the final edition contained only one passing reference to a voice mail.
The discrepancies between the different editions were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, in a 2011 article.
In the days leading up to the publication of the article, Ms. Brooks was in close contact with the paper’s news desk, with calls increasing in frequency closer to the date of publication, prosecutors said. Friends who met with Ms. Brooks in Dubai also said she spent time on the phone speaking about Miss Dowler, according to the prosecutor.
On April 13, the night the paper went to press, Ms. Brooks texted Mr. Coulson twice after the first edition of the paper went to print but before the final edition was closed. Phone records also show that earlier in the day, she made two calls to the News of the World editor’s desk, with one call lasting 20 minutes and 31 seconds, Mr. Edis said.
Ms. Brooks had a personal interest in the story because she had run a newspaper campaign about missing children, and Miss Dowler had been the subject of several stories in the weeks prior, the prosecutor said.
In describing the alleged romantic relationship, Mr. Edis said police found a letter on Ms. Brooks’s computer that made it clear the two had an affair that lasted from at least 1998 to 2004. While it is unclear whether the letter was ever sent, the secret relationship indicated the two trusted each other and shared information, Mr. Edis said.
The prosecutor said that it appears from the 2004 letter that Mr. Coulson had been seeking to break off the affair for some time, and that was a source of a “great deal of grief” for her. Mr. Edis said that in the letter, Ms. Brooks had described Mr. Coulson as her best friend and that she told him everything.
“The fact is you are my very best friend. I tell you everything, I confide in you, I seek your advice, I love you, care about you, worry about you,” Ms. Brooks said in the letter according to the prosecution.
Write to Jenny Gross at jenny.gross@wsj.com and Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com

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