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Andy Coulson Rebekah Brooks Phone-Hacking Trial

Phone-hacking trial: Coulson's PA and the newsdesk secretary

By James Doleman

November 19, 2013 | 6 min read

After the lunch interval, the prosecution called another employee of News International to give evidence, Emma Harvey. Harvey told the court that from 2002 onwards she was the personal assistant for Andy Coulson. She continued as Coulson’s PA for about three years before leaving the company a few months before Coulson became editor of the News of the World (NotW).

Evidence: The trial at the Old Bailey in London continues

Timothy Langdale QC, acting for Coulson, then rose to question the witness. Harvey confirmed that she had left her role as PA to Coulson on good terms and had only left to “seek a new challenge”. The witness told the court that she looked after the then deputy editor’s secretarial needs and on occasion helped with stories.

Langdale put it to Harvey that the NotW was a “very competitive world”, to which she agreed, and that journalists were sometimes “secretive” about their sources. Harvey also told the jury that no-one ever spoke to her about phone-hacking and that she had never heard any rumours or gossip about it. The witness also confirmed she had never heard of Glenn Mulcaire or his company. Langdale asked if Harvey knew if a “well-placed person in Royal circles” was supplying information to the paper in return for money. The person was not named in court. Harvey said she was and knew the informant was paid in cash for stories. Harvey then confirmed that she had been asked to transcribe a conversation between Heather Mills, ex-wife of Paul McCartney and a prostitute. According to Langdale, the recording of the conversation was supplied by one of the participants.

Asked to describe Coulson as a boss, the witness said he was “approachable” and a good person to work for. She also agreed that he was keen to get a story right and “took pride in his work”. The witness was asked if she had any recollection of the Milly Dowler “voicemail” story, she said she had none. She did, however, recall the story on the front page which was headlined “Beppe blasts Eastenders”, but denied being involved in the accompanying photoshoot. Mr Langdale then sat down.

Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, for Ian Edmondson, then rose to cross examine the witness. Bennett-Jenkins asked Harvey if Coulson was a person who did not “suffer fools gladly”, to which the witness agreed. Bennett-Jenkins then sat down, and the witness was excused.

The next witness called was Frances Carmen who worked at the NotW from May 2000 as news desk secretary until the paper closed in 2011. Mark Bryant-Heron first asked the witness to recall when Rebekah Brooks took over as editor in May 2000, and the witness told the jury that days after Rebekah Brooks was appointed Greg Miskiw, the then news editor, was dispatched to New York. However, he returned to the paper soon after to launch an “investigations unit” along with Neville Thurlbeck and Paul McMullan. Carmen told the court that the investigations unit continued until Miskiw moved to Manchester in September 2003.

Asked about the work of the investigations unit, Carmen told the court that it was not part of the news desk so she had no direct knowledge of what they did as they were “at the other end of the office”. Her duties, she told the court, were administrative - answering the phone and ensuring casual staff were paid. The witness also typed and filed contributor contracts.

The court was then shown a document showing an agreement between one of convicted phone hacker Glenn Mulcaire’s companies and the NotW, signed by Neville Thurlbeck, promising payment to Mulcaire of £104,988 for investigative services. Carmen could not recall typing the contract up but told the court it did not fit the standard template usually used for agreements of this kind. The witness told the court she also kept a file of all contracts with outside contributors. She did recall the newsdesk receiving calls from a man called “Glenn” but did not know it was Mulcaire until much later.

The witness was asked about 14 April 2011, when James Weatherup, NotW deputy news editor, was arrested. Carmen told the court that she was asked to witness the packing up of the contents of his desk which were then taken by taxi to a solicitors office. Carmen also recalled archiving mini-cassette tapes for Ian Edmondson.

The prosecution then asked Carmen if she was ever involved in cash payments to external contributors, to which she replied yes. Any queries about cash payments were handled, the witness told the jury, by the managing editor, Stuart Kuttner.

Carmen was then cross examined by Stuart Kuttner’s QC, Jonathan Caplan. The witness was shown a contract between Euro Research, another Mulcaire company, and the NotW. The witness identified the signature on the contract as that of Greg Miskiw and confirmed the date as September 2001. A subsequent contract from September 2002 was shown to the witness, who again confirmed the signature on the contract as that of Greg Miskiw.

Asked by Caplan what impression the witness had of Kuttner, she agreed he was hard working and “liked to see things done correctly”. Mr Langdale, for Andy Coulson, then rose to ask Carmen if she had any knowledge of phone-hacking before Clive Goodman’s arrest in 2006. The witness said she had never heard anything about it.

Bennett-Jenkins, for Edmonson, then told the court she was not yet prepared to cross examine the witness, so Carmen was sent home to return tomorrow. As there were no further witnesses in court the jury was allowed to leave early for the day.

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

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Andy Coulson Rebekah Brooks Phone-Hacking Trial

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