Phone-hacking trial: Coulson 'didn't know term phone hacking', 'didn't believe journalist paying police'

Coulson's defence counsel, Timothy Langdale QC, continued his questioning of his client about his relationship with former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and asked how he found Clive Goodman's communication skills. "It became a frustrating process," the witness told the court. "Clive was someone who was difficult to get a grip of. He was quite difficult to pin down and was prone to, in my view, creating unnecessary drama in his communications." The defendant said: "Over time, he certainly didn't much like travelling outside the office, and he harboured disappointment about not being made news editor. He was generally a tricky customer."

The jury was then given a large green folder of documents relating to the defendant's time at the News of the World and his relationship with Goodman. In one 2002 email Coulson describes himself as "head of PR for Clive Goodman inc" to which Goodman replies "ha, ha." The defendant told the court that this accurately reflected their good relationship at that time. The court was shown documents that the defendant said showed he was sharing information from his own sources to help the royal correspondent write stories, including one in the Lister clinic that was used by members of the royal household.

The defendant was then asked about a 2003 email in which Goodman asks him about paying a police officer for a royal directory. "I don't remember this email," Coulson told the court. "I didn't believe Clive Goodman was paying a policeman but I failed to address it," he added. Asked about a reference to "turning a phone" in a further email, the defendant told the court this meant getting an address from a phone number and had nothing to do with intercepting voicemails. Coulson was then asked about a 2005 email from Goodman which asks for £1,000 to a "palace cop" for another royal directory. The defendant agreed he did reply "fine" but denied he believed Goodman was paying a police officer.

The witness was then asked about a 2005 email from Goodman, referring to an accident that happened to Prince Harry, which states: "the inf comes from the doc himself, scanned from Helen Asbury". Coulson said he did not recall the email but he assumed Goodman had a source, adding that: "Scanned could mean 'tricked' in some way." In a further email Goodman suggests that a member of the royal household may have been getting their phone hacked and suggests he checks. Coulson said that "in 2005 I'm not sure I knew the term phone hacking, my response suggests I may not have read the last part of the email". In another email shown to the jury, Coulson complains about the stories Goodman is bringing to the paper: "Billy Bragg? Rod Liddle?" He told the jury: "I never considered Rod Liddle to be one of celebrities that normally appear in the News of the World."

The court was then shown another email in which the defendant asked Goodman "how we get this". Coulson told the court that he could not recall the email, but told the court the News of the World "used a lip-reader at a royal wedding once" to discover what the family were saying to each other on the balcony.

The former editor was then asked about a 2005 "project" he undertook with Goodman. Coulson said he was leaving his office when Goodman approached him. "He told me he had a new royal sources who could provide stories, in particular about the younger royals, it was a very brief conversation." The defendant said that Goodman has asked if he could put the new source on a retainer. "It was a trial," he told the court.

The court then took a break.

When proceedings resumed the defendant was asked about what he knew about Goodman's new "source", which the court has already heard was convicted phone hacker Glenn Mulcaire. The former editor said that nothing in Goodman's emails gave the impression that the new source had anything to do with intercepting voicemails and denied he knew the alias used by Mulcaire for this work was "Alexander". "Clive told me it was somebody close to the young royals, it was a trial which I ended," Coulson told the jury. Coulson was then asked about a November 2005 email in which Goodman asked the former editor if he can "extend the matey trial" to which he replied "ok, another month". The defendant told the court he could not recall the mail or any discussion around it.

The defendant was then asked about a story, put to him by Goodman, that Prince William was "cheating" on his Sandhurst exams by asking his private secretary for information. Coulson said that his email that the story "was not stood up" meant he did not know if it was true and he was chasing his royal editor for confirmation. The defence barrister asked his client if Goodman had ever told him the source of this story was an intercepted voicemail, but told the court that "it was never that big a story in my mind" and he assumed it had came from a confidential source. The story only ran, the court was told, as as short piece in the "Blackadder" gossip column.

Court then adjourned for the day.

All of the defendants deny all of the charges, the trial continues.