Phone-hacking trial: Rebekah Brooks denies knowledge of phone-hacking 'dark arts'
- Brooks had "no knowledge of phone-hacking"
- "Impossible for an editor to know every source for every story," court told
- Investigations unit not school of "dark arts"
Court resumed after lunch to hear further testimony in chief from former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks. Jonathan Laidlaw questioned his client further about her time as deputy editor of the Sun and Brooks confirmed that she retained her contacts and still brought stories to the paper in her new role. Brooks also confirmed that she kept her political contacts during this period. She also worked with fellow defendant Andy Coulson during this time on an early digital project, "exclusive.com". However, this changed in May 2000 when Brooks told the court she was surprised to be confirmed as the new editor of the News of the World.
Trial: Rebekah Brooks is a former editor of the now defunct paper
Laidlaw then moved on to the count one allegation of conspiracy to hack phones against Brooks which dates from May 2000 to January 2003. The witness told the court she had never heard the name of convicted phone-hacker Glenn Mulcaire or knew of any aspect of his activities. Brooks confirmed that she was aware the paper, along with others and lawyers and solicitors, used private detectives. Mr Justice Saunders intervened and asked Brooks to concentrate on what she had direct knowledge of. "That's not to protect lawyers," he added. Asked if she had any knowledge of "phone-hacking", Brooks replied "no, not at all". At this point Jonathan Laidlaw QC's phone rang and Judge Saunders suggested that if he had to take the call "someone else could take over". "And probably do a better job," Laidlaw replied. Brooks then confirmed she had suggested Coulson as her deputy editor at the News of the World.
The witness was asked about her relationship with Coulson. She told the court she had known him since 1995 and they had worked at the Sun together. Brooks described Coulson as "coming from a news background and a die hard football fan" so he could help with areas she was weaker on. Coulson had also run a "showbiz department" so had experience in editing pages. Brooks told the court she was "political, not in a party since but issue driven". The witness told the court she was interested in what affected her readers, highlighting "books in schools" and "welfare reform" as things she wanted to campaign on as editor.
Brooks was then taken through an organisational chart of the News of the World and was asked to put "names to boxes". She confirmed who did what in each role and that Coulson was her deputy, and co-defendant Stuart Kuttner the managing editor. Bob Bird was the Scottish editor, producing a slightly different edition as "the Scots did not want to see the English football results," the witness told the court. In total, Brooks told the jury, she was responsible for between 170 and 180 full time staff as well as freelance reporters and casual employees.
The witness was then asked about co-defendant Stuart Kuttner who was managing editor under her. Brooks told the jury that when she joined the paper he had said to her: "You are my 17th editor, my dear." He was of a different generation but "incredibly respectful and hard working," she said. She worked with Kuttner to "fight for a budget" and the two of them would go to Newscorp headquarters in New York and pitch their case to Rupert Murdoch and other directors. It was only after they arrived back in London that they were given the figure of what they could spend every year. The resulting "pot" was then divided by department and weekly spending limits were set. Kuttner as managing editor then monitored if these were being kept to. The witness told the court she "relied on Kuttner almost completely" to look after this process although she would be involved in "big one off payments". Justice Saunders asked Brooks: "But he did report to you?" to which the witness agreed.
The court then took a short break.
When Brooks' evidence resumed, her QC asked about the role of Greg Miskiw. Miskiw, as the court has already heard, had been sent to New York to head up an American office for the News of the World just before Brooks had taken over as editor. The witness told the court she could not see the need for the role and "almost immediately" brought him back and appointed him as head of a new "investigations department". Brooks explained that stories often took months to come to fruition, so by setting up a specialist unit to deal with these it would allow the newsdesk to respond to day to day stories. Defence counsel asked what her relationship with Miskiw was like. "He was not best pleased to come back from New York, but I thought it was a waste of money," she said. There was a "difficult patch" but it passed, Brooks told the court. "It was a professional relationship and nothing more," she added. "He was very old-school," the witness said, adding that he was "quite insular and kept himself to himself".
Brooks was asked to comment on the prosecution assertion that the investigations unit was the "home of the dark arts", and engaged in illegal activity. The witness replied by pointing to Mazher Mahmood who specialised in appearing as a "fake sheikh" to bring in stories. "They did some great work when I was editor," Brooks told the court, and brought in many stories that "were in the public interest". Brooks pointed to a story titled "hospital unit throws out babies remains with the rubbish" as one product of the investigations unit and "scandal of docs who sell deadly diet pills" as another. However, in 2001, the witness told the court, the investigations unit "was just not working" in the context of a weekly paper with news and investigations sometimes working on the same story and "not talking to each other". Brooks denied again that the department was set up to "hack phones". "Absolutely not true," she replied.
Brooks was then asked about another reporter, Neville Thurlbeck who, the court has had has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to intercept voicemails while the witness was editor. Brooks said they had a "good professional relationship" but only socialised very rarely at company events such as Christmas parties. Brooks recalled Thurlbeck was not actively working in the Newsroom when she arrived back at the paper as "he was facing a trial." But he rejoined the team soon after. The witness was then asked about another co-defendant, Clive Goodman. "It seemed like he had been Royal editor forever" Brooks replied adding that Goodman reported in to the News Editor not to herself.
Defence counsel then took Brooks through her working week which, while at the News of the World, ran from Tuesday to Saturday. Tuesday was taken up by an editorial conference. "A painful affair," Brooks said and pages started being sent to the printers by Thursday. Friday and Saturday were described as "very long days" with the aim of having as much finalised by Friday night. The QC asked what the "objective" of the News of the World was. Brooks described the role of a Sunday paper as "setting the news agenda" for the next week by producing things people had not read yet or producing "the story behind the story". Campaigns were also important, Brooks said, highlighting the paper's coverage of Sarah's Law, a measure to inform parents when paedophiles moved into their area. The News of the World was also "football crazy both on the front and back pages," Brooks said.
Laidlaw suggested to the jury that Brooks had edited over 110 editions of the News of the World, each containing around 200 stories. There were also many stories that were never published. The witness was asked if she could estimate how many stories she read every week and she estimated that she read around 400 stories in relation to every edition. Brooks told the court she was not always told where a story came from as a "story can be made up of lots of different sources" either on the record or through sources that "only the reporter or department head may know". "It's impossible for an editor to know every source for every story," Brooks told the jury.
The court then adjourned for the day
All of the defendants deny all of the charges, the trial at the Old Bailey continues.
Click here to view more stories from The Drum's daily coverage of the phone-hacking trial