Phone-hacking trial: Charlie Brooks' bags, the hate mail and the colour of ink
- Chelsea Harbour staff tell of finding bag with laptops and papers outside Brooks' flat
- Charlie Brooks was "annoyed" and threatened to "sue them" when told items were given to police
- Witness tells court Mark Hanna "dug hole in garden and burned stuff"
- "Blue ink and your're likely to be a nutter?" judge asks
After a four-day break, the jury returned to court 12 of London's Old Bailey to hear more evidence on charge seven of the indictment which relates to an alleged 2011 conspiracy to conceal evidence from the police by Rebekah Brooks, her husband Charlie Brooks and former News International security chief Mark Hanna.
Evidence: The bags found by the cleaner
Mark Bryant-Heron began today's proceedings by handing to the jury a set of photographs to add to their already bulging evidence folders before calling his first witness Michael Wiafe. The witness told the court that in the summer of 2011 he was the security supervisor at Chelsea Harbour, the location of the Brooks' London home. At 10.30am on 18 July that year Wiafe told the court he had received a call from the cleaning supervisor who told him his staff had found some items concealed behind a bin at the complex. He had taken the items, two leather bags to his supervisor, Alan Ramsay, who called the police to report the items had been found (you can find his testimony here.)
Wiafe then told the court that as he left the office he met a porter along with defendant Charlie Brooks. The porter told the witness that Brooks had lost a bag containing a laptop. The witness then went back into the office and told Ramsay that someone was looking for the bags. Ramsay then took Brooks to see his supervisor.
Mr Saunders, for Charlie Brooks, then cross examined the witness. He asked if the cleaners had told him that they had removed anything from the bags, Waife told the court that as far as he knew they had not. The defence counsel asked if Ramsay had called the police before or after Brooks arrived at the office. The witness confirmed that was his recollection of the order of events. Saunders put it to the witness that Ramsay told Brooks "if we find them we'll let you know" and that he knew that was wrong as the bags were already in the office. The witness said he was not very sure and agreed that Charlie Brooks looked tired and "had not had a shower that morning". The witness then left the stand.
A statement from the cleaning supervisor, Arsenio Reise, was then heard, and this confirmed the testimony given by cleaner Fernando Mascimento about the discovery of the bags. Reise also stated that he had never met Rebekah Brooks and had no idea she had been arrested on 17 July.
The next witness called was Neil Perkins, a porter at Chelsea Harbour. The witness told the court that he knew Mr and Mrs Brooks well and saw them every day when Rebekah Brooks would take a chauffeur driven car to work while Charlie Brooks took a "taxi to race meetings". On Monday 18 July 2011, Perkins was at work and at around 1pm he went to the complex's underground car park. He saw Rebekah Brooks' driver, Paul, talking on the phone and heard a "rustling sound" coming from the area where the bins were stored. Perkins told the court that he went to investigate and saw a tall man moving around. The witness then asked the man, who had never seen before: "Have you lost anything?"
The man replied that he was "looking for a bag that was left last night". Charlie Brooks then arrived and told Perkins a bag had been lost containing an "old laptop and some papers". The witness told the court he understood the missing items belonged to Charlie Brooks.
Perkins then testified that he told Brooks the bins would have been emptied that morning but if the bag had contained a laptop it may have been retrieved. The three of them then went to the cleaning office to try and locate the missing items and were told the bag had been taken to the estate manager's office. There they met Alan Ramsay, who told Brooks he would check and call him in about 20 minutes. Brooks then returned to his apartment and the witness continued with his work. He later was asked by Brooks if he had heard anything and Perkins called the security office to get an update. Discovering it had been handed to police, he told Brooks the news, who responded with an "annoyed response" along the lines of "I'll sue them".
Mr Saunders, QC for Charlie Brooks, then cross examined Perkins and asked how well he knew the Brookses. He told the court he knew them well and often did odd jobs for them. He had also been given a signed copy of Charlie's book. "He was down to earth and not aloof," the witness said. Defence counsel asked the witness if he was told "a bag had been left for Charlie". Perkins replied that he thought Brooks had left the bag himself rather than it being left for him but he could not be certain.
The next witness called was Robert Hernandes. This witness told the court that in July 2011 he was employed as a concierge at News International's headquarters at Thomas Moore Square in London. His main line manager was Lee Sandell. Hernandes told the court that he was on duty on the night of 9 July 2011, when the last edition of the News of the World was published, and was dealing with "access control" - checking who was entering the News of the World's offices and making sure staff leaving did not take any company property with them. After they finished at around midnight, he and defendant Mark Hanna went for a drink. The witness had a "few beers" while Hanna had "a bottle of wine to himself".
Andrew Edis QC, for the prosecution, asked Hernandes what they talked about. The witness said Hanna told him that he had done a "lot of work" providing security for Rebekah Brooks and explained, the witness said, that when the hacking scandal came to light he had acted as her back-up driver. The witness said that Hanna had also told him that at one time he had "dug a hole in his garden and burned stuff". Fernandes asked if it was papers that had been burned. Hanna, the witness said, did not reply and "looked at me and just changed the subject". The jury was then asked to leave the court while a legal matter was discussed.
When the jury returned, William Clegg, counsel for Mark Hanna, cross examined the witness. Hernandes told the court that he and Hanna were in the pub for about two hours on the night in question, although he could not be exact about how long, and he had "several pints" of ordinary lager. Pressed, Hernandes agreed he had four or five drinks and Hanna had drunk a whole bottle of wine "but not straight away". The witness told the court that the main topic of conversation was the closure of the News of the World. Clegg asked the witness if it was possible that the conversation about the fire related to having a drink beside a "bonfire in the garden" Hernandes replied that had never been mentioned but agreed there was also no mention of when the incident happened or what was burned. "We know not when and we know not what," as the defence counsel put it. Clegg suggested the conversation about the fire did not mention a "hole" but a concrete slab. Hernandes agreed that it "could have been".
Andrew Edis QC then re-examined the witness and asked what he meant by saying the fire may have been on a concrete slab. Hernandes told the court the words used were "he dug a hole in the garden and burned stuff". The jury was then asked again to leave the court while further legal matters were discussed.
When the jury returned, the next witness called was Glen Jagger, another member of the security staff working at News International. He was asked about events on 17 July 2011, the day Rebekah Brooks was first arrested, and the witness testified that he saw Mark Hanna, and a colleague of his, Lee Sandell, arrive at News International's offices in a black Range Rover. They told Jagger that the car belonged to Charlie Brooks and they were planning to take it back to his flat in Chelsea harbour. They picked up Hanna's own car and then left together.
William Clegg, QC for Mark Hanna, then rose to cross-examine. He had the jury given a large number of documents to add to their folders. He asked the witness to look at the first of these, which were emails concerned with the large media presence outside the News of the World's headquarters in the build up to the final edition of the paper being printed on 9 July 2011. The witness agreed that journalists and camera crews grew in number as the final day of publication neared and that security staff were warned to be "extra vigilant" to make sure Rupert and James Murdoch got into the building with "as little exposure as possible". Further emails shown in court expressed concern that Rebekah Brooks was being "personally targeted" and that risk to staff had "increased dramatically". This, the witness confirmed, had led to "additional pressure" on Hanna.
Clegg then asked the witness about threats received by Rebekah Brooks during this period. Jagger confirmed a great deal of "hate mail" was being received by News International, "some it it disgusting some threatening". Security staff had to read the mail to assess if it was "just some nutter" or "represented a serious threat". The ultimate responsibility for making that decision was Mark Hanna as head of security. Incoming mail was sorted and if it appeared threatening it was sent directly to his department. The witness was then shown some examples of this "hate mail" recovered from Hanna's home by the police.
One of these read in court calls News International executives a "bunch of self serving, money-grabbing hypocritical liars" adding that "the universal law of karma will exact revenge, there is no escape". Further emails were given to the jury to see but not shown to the press. The defence counsel suggested that the colour of ink used in one letter could suggest it was hate mail and justice Saunders intervened asking: "Blue ink and you're likely to be a nutter? Really?"
Another letter shown to the court was addressed to "Fortress Wapping", which Clegg called a "bit of a give away". The abusive letters were not shown to the executives they had been sent to and instead were given directly to Hanna. He often took copies of the letters home to "assess them", the witness confirmed.
Jagger was then asked about Hanna's movements on 17 July, the day of Rebekah Brooks' arrest, and stated that, as far as he knew, Hanna had not visited Thomas Moore Square, where her office was located, that day, nor did he see him, or Lee Sandell carrying any bags that day. Asked why he had called Hanna at 8.15pm that night, Jagger said he could not recall the specifics. The QC suggested that the the conversation was about "a bag", and Jagger replied that "it was possible but I can't recall".
Court then rose for lunch.
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