Phone-hacking trial: Court hears allegations concerning former Home Secretary David Blunkett
The final session of court on Thursday was taken up with Andrew Edis QC taking the jury through two other alleged instances of phone-hacking (view Thursday's first report, the%20Milly%20Dowler%20case%20was%20the%20'hack%20that%20brought%20down%20the%20News%20of%20the%20World,%20here).
Trial: Allegations concerned former Home Secretary David Blunkett
The%20first%20was%20that%20of%20the%20leader%20of%20the%20Fire%20Brigade%20Union,%20Andy%20Gilchrist.%20Edis%20told%20the%20court%20that%20in%20December%202002,%20the%20union%20was%20engaged%20in%20a%20bitter%20dispute%20with%20the%20government%20that%20had%20led%20to%20a%20series%20of%20strikes.%20He%20alleged%20that%20Glenn%20Mulcaire%20was%20tasked%20to%20tap%20the%20voicemail%20messages%20of%20Gilchrist%20to%20try%20and%20secure%20information%20to%20undermine%20his%20leadership%20of%20the%20union.%20The%20hacking%20never%20produced%20any%20information%20that%20led%20to%20any%20stories.
Rebekah%20Brooks%20moved%20from%20editing%20the%20News%20of%20the%20World%20to%20the%20Sun%20in%20January%202003.%20Edis%20read%20to%20the%20court%20a%20story%20from%20the%20Sun%20on%20Mr%20Gilchrist%20on%2020%20January%20of%20that%20year%20exposing%20an%20affair%20he%20had%20in%201997/1998%20with%20a%20fellow%20firefighter,%20Tracey%20Holland,%20a%20story%20that%20the%20paper%20had%20secured%20through%20non-hacking%20methods.%20The%20story%20branded%20Gilchrist%20as%20a%20%E2%80%9Clove%20cheat%E2%80%9D%20and%20told%20readers%20he%20was%20a%20%E2%80%9Clying,%20cheating,%20low%20life%20fornicator%E2%80%9D.%20Interestingly,%20Mulcaire%20did%20submit%20an%20invoice%20for%20%C2%A3250%20stating%20the%20payment%20was%20for%20work%20on%20%E2%80%9Clove%20cheat%20fire%20chief%E2%80%9D.%20
Edis%20the%20told%20the%20court%20that%20with%20Brooks'%20move%20to%20the%20Sun,%20Andy%20Coulson%20had%20stepped%20into%20the%20editor%E2%80%99s%20chair%20at%20the%20News%20of%20the%20World.%20He%20then%20went%20on%20to%20discuss%20what%20he%20called%20a%20%E2%80%9Cvery%20important%20event%20in%20his%20career%E2%80%9D;%20a%20story%20about%20the%20then%20senior%20cabinet%20minister%20David%20Blunkett.
The%20News%20of%20the%20World%20had%20a%20story%20that%20Blunkett%20was%20having%20an%20affair%20with%20a%20woman%20named%20Kimberly%20Quinn.%20After%20repeated%20calls,%20Blunkett%20agreed%20to%20meet%20Coulson%20to%20discuss%20the%20situation%20and%20Blunkett,%20being%20a%20%E2%80%9Ccareful%20man%E2%80%9D%20according%20to%20Edis,%20secretly%20recorded%20the%20meeting.%20The%20court%20was%20then%20played%20the%20audio.
What%20is%20striking%20about%20the%20audio,%20Edis%20told%20the%20jury,%20is%20that%20despite%20Blunkett%E2%80%99s%20denials,%20Coulson%20sticks%20to%20his%20guns%20and%20says%20his%20story%20is%20based%20on%20%E2%80%9Cextremely%20reliable%20sources%E2%80%9D,%20adding:%20" the information i have got is pretty solid would not be exposing myself in this way unless believed story to true.>
The source, according to the prosecution, was in fact recordings of the voicemails of Kimberly Quinn herself, voicemails that were found by the police in a safe at the News of the World HQ in Wapping. Edis asked the jury to consider if Coulson would have been so confident in the story, so willing to take on such a senior member of the government without asking himself the “editor's question, how do I know this story is true?” The only way he could have have been sure, Edis added, was if he had heard the voicemails themselves, no other explanation made sense.
As it was coming up to the end of the day, the presiding judge asked Edis if he was ready to adjourn. The QC said: “We will move on to the next home secretary tomorrow,” then the court rose.
The defendants deny the charges, the trial at the Old Bailey continues.
Click here to view other posts from The Drum's trial coverage