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Rebekah Brooks Phone-Hacking Trial Cheryl Carter

Phone-hacking trial: Goodman remains unwell, court moves on to Cheryl Carter defence

By James Doleman |

March 25, 2014 | 4 min read

    Court: Cheryl Carter

  • Clive Goodman awaiting appointment with cardiac consultant
  • Trial moves on to case against Brooks' former PA Cheryl Carter
  • Boxes labelled "Rebekah's notebooks" in fact contained Carter's documents, court told
  • After the delay caused by the illness of former News of the World Royal editor Clive Godman, the trial of staff from the now defunct News of the World resumed this morning with Judge Saunders ruling that as Goodman was unwell the court would move on to the defence case for Cheryl Carter. Carter, former personal assistant to Rebekah Brooks, is charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over seven boxes of documents the prosecution say she removed from News International's archive to conceal from police.

    Trevor Burke, QC for Carter, rose to address the jury and told them his client's case would only take around three days as it was "not complicated", telling the jury they "could forget hacking, forget paying public officials, it's not relevant to Cheryl Carter". Burke told the court that the charge of conspiracy had to involve two people, in this case his client and former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks. "You cannot convict one and acquit the other, the law does not allow it. Cheryl Carter and Rebekah Brooks stand or fall together," he said. The prosecution, counsel said, had to prove that his client had agreed to commit a criminal act with Brooks. If they did not discuss it, "you must acquit", he said, adding that in her testimony Brooks had "consistently denied her part in the conspiracy".

    The defence counsel told the court that in her police interviews his client had been "constantly questioned about the archive" and had repeatedly said she alone had been responsible for archiving the documents in question because her boss, Rebekah Brooks, was moving offices as she had been promoted to CEO of the company. She said she had removed them after receiving an email from the archive asking that items be removed from storage. "She was confused," Burke told the court, between "archive and storage". The Crown case, "that she removed the boxes to protect her beloved boss", was mistaken, the QC said. "What prompted Cheryl to remove the boxes on the 8th is the key difference between prosecution and defence cases," he added.

    Burke told the court that when the boxes were removed Carter had her son take them home and sorted through them at the weekend. Inside them, he said, were documents related to the beauty column she wrote for the Sun or her "student notes" from a course she had undertaken. To illustrate this point he showed the jury copies of some of Carter's articles. Burke told the court that Carter had labelled the boxes "Rebekah's notebooks" as she did not think the archive would store them if they thought they belonged to her. "That's what was in them, they had nothing to do with Rebekah Brooks," the defence counsel said. There were a few items from the office, such as desk diaries, the QC told the court. These, he said, his client took back to News International and filed.

    The defence QC told the jury that after Brooks resigned from News International Carter ordered a van to remove her boss's "private items" from the office. Burke told the court that there was unfortunately no record of this. "Of all the millions of documents that we have seen in this trial, this one that could have helped my client, cannot be found." Carter, the court was told, took these home, sorted through them and then drove with her husband to Brooks' Oxforshire property and delivered them. This was nothing to do with the "seven boxes", Burke said.

    Court then rose for lunch.

    Click here to view more posts from The Drum's daily phone-hacking trial coverage straight from the Old Bailey

    Rebekah Brooks Phone-Hacking Trial Cheryl Carter

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