Phone-hacking trial: News international 'cover-up' over hacking a 'dirty story', court hears

The barrister began by telling the jury that he anticipated that others would argue his client was implicating Andy Coulson of phone hacking due to "resentment" and being "bitter about he was treated", a proposition, he suggested, that would not stand up to examination. Goodman, Spens said, had told his lawyer within a day of being arrested that others at News International were involved in phone hacking. Was it plausible, Spens asked, that "within 24 hours of leaving the police station he was prepared to concoct an entirely false story about Coulson?" The barrister said that line of argument was "farcical, it doesn't hold water".

The defence QC then turned to the issue of Goodman's appeal hearing after his dismissal from the News of the World in 2007. Spens pointed out that no witnesses had been called at the internal hearing to test Goodman's allegations and described the process as a "Kangaroo Court, a complete sham, an utter charade". Spens told the court that it was possible Judge Saunders would advise the jury in his summing up to "treat Goodman's evidence with caution" but asked them to judge for themselves how to treat his testimony, adding that even before Goodman began hacking "the core of the News of the World was already rotten."

Counsel then turned to the issue of the bullying Goodman claimed he was subject to at News International. Spens said there was a bullying culture that had grown up under Andy Coulson's editorship and he and another journalist we cannot name for legal reasons were "two lurchers after the same hare, Mr Goodman". Spens asked the jury to recall the evidence of Coulson's PA "Belinda Sharrier", describing bullying as "to belittle" and suggested that this exactly described the Autumn of 2005 when Goodman was told to only work to the news desk after 19 years as "distinguished royal journalist". Counsel then went through various emails from 2005 which he described as "upbraiding" his client. "What more could he do?" Spens asked. "He was already hacking the young royals."

Spens then moved on to a further group of documents the jury have been given which he said related to the "cover-up" of hacking at News International. These included emails between Andy Coulson and a News International lawyer, who we cannot name for legal reasons, about Goodman's meeting with the probation service after his guilty plea over phone hacking and Coulson's concerns that they had a negative attitude to the company due to "Sarah's Law", as well as drafts of Coulson's resignation statement. The barrister suggested to the jury that they may conclude from these papers that "the truth was being suppressed" and the cover might have been seen as "concrete proof of Coulson's guilt" as he was offering "promises and inducements" not to say all he knew. "It's a very ugly story," Spens said, "a shockingly effective strategy of a carrot and a stick operated by Mr Coulson to ensure Mr Goodman's silence".

Spens then told the jury that even after Goodman's guilty plea News International still had the problem of "how to keep Mr Goodman in line until he was sentenced". "Lots of people at News International were dealing with this," the barrister continued, saying that Stuart Kuttner was one of those responsible for leading the former royal editor to believe he had a chance of keeping his job. However, Spens said, as the jury knew, Goodman was "discarded" after imprisonment and "the News of the World ship steamed on without him".

The defence barrister then turned to a meeting between Goodman and Coulson in August 2006 which Goodman recorded. At the meeting, Spens said Goodman was told he could return to the News of the World if he said "he acted alone and went off the reservation". Spens then quoted former US president Lyndon Johnson who said it was "better to have them inside the tent pissing out that outside the tent pissing in", adding that the job offer worked. "He was loyal. He was vulnerable and little prospect of further employment, his sister was also still on the paper." Spens went on: "He who pays the piper plays the tune."

The defence barrister then went through a series of meetings between Goodman, Coulson and Stuart Kuttner in the build up to the former royal editor pleading guilty to the illegal interception of voicemails from members of the royal household. These, he asked the jury to consider, showed that Coulson was aware Goodman may have named him as knowing about hacking in contradiction to Coulson's testimony that he was only told this in December 2006. "He was a ticking bomb for those who knew what really went on," Spens said, adding that the worry at News International was if Goodman "was going to bite that hand that feeds him". The jury was then shown an email from a News of the World executive to Coulson in which they express concern that Goodman would have a long time between plea and sentence were he could say what he liked.

Court then took a short break

When proceedings resumed the defence QC asked the jury to consider an email between Andy Coulson sent to Rebekah Brooks on the day Goodman pleaded guilty in which he says "it is all going so well today". What could he have meant, Spens asked the jury, and suggested he "writes what he means". Spens went on: "He had pleaded guilty. Why hadn't Mr Coulson dismissed him? He couldn't take the risk," Spens said.

Further emails show concern among senior staff at the News of the World about Goodman's meetings with the probation service before his sentencing. In one, Coulson states that Goodman should be informed that the probation service have a "clear anti-News of the World agenda". Why would he write that, Spens asked, unless it was to warn the former royal editor off from talking too much. "They were keeping a very close eye on Mr Goodman," counsel added, "they knew when the probation meeting was". The barrister told the court that by this point Goodman so distrusted his lawyer, Henri Brandman, that he didn't tell him what he'd admitted to the Probation Service.

On 4 January 2007, Clive Goodman, the court was told, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to four months in prison after his mitigation plea did not mention anyone else at the News of the World as being aware of phone hacking. "He had kept his side of the bargain," Spens said, but he was still dismissed on 5 February with a year's salary in lieu of notice. "They probably thought that was the end of the matter," counsel said, but told the jury that Goodman appealed his dismissal on the grounds that other staff were involved in the same illegal activities. Goodman lost his appeal but later settled with the News of the World on condition he signed a gagging order. "His silence had been bought," counsel said.

Court then adjourned for the day

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