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Andy Coulson Phone-Hacking Trial

Phone-hacking trial: Snowden, spinning and the dark arts

By James Doleman

April 15, 2014 | 8 min read

    Court: Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson

  • Coulson "may have avoided" talking to Brooks about Dowler story
  • "I am not a bully," former editor says
  • News of the World journalist "guarded" Soham murderer
  • I would not have published Snowden NSA leaks, Coulson tells court
  • Phrase "dark arts" refers to legal methods, former editor claims
  • When the jury returned after lunch the court heard further testimony from former News of the World editor Andy Coulson over allegations that he was aware of widespread phone-hacking at the now defunct Sunday tabloid. Coulson's barrister, Timothy Langdale QC, began by asking his client if he discussed the Milly Dowler story with Rebekah Brooks after she returned from holiday. "We may have discussed the paper," he said, but added that he might have "avoided" talking about the Dowler piece as he had "got the mix wrong in the paper" and had to change it by the third edition.

    The defence barrister then moved on to January 2003 when Rebekah Brooks moved to the Sun and Coulson became editor of the News of the World. The defendant told the court that around 160 people worked under him at Wapping with smaller satellite offices in Scotland and Ireland. The former editor told the court that his objective was to modernise the paper's design and he said he always tried to be fair "but firm at times" with staff. "I may have lost my temper but quickly apologised for it, I wanted to build on the team feeling in the paper and took a look of pride as an editor in finding and developing talented people," he said. Coulson added: "The News of the World could be a tough place at times but I hoped that people came to work and enjoyed working there, I certainly did." The witness was then asked about allegations of "bullying" at the newspaper. "I absolutely reject that," Coulson said. "I am not a bully."

    The defendant said that one of the advantages of "moving up in newspapers" was that "you get to meet interesting people, and I tried to do that as much as possible". The former editor told the court he was "risk adverse" and always tried to keep the paper out of trouble as he saw himself as the "custodian of the brand". The defence QC asked the defendant how much he relied on others at the paper. "It's impossible to micro-manage a newspaper," Coulson replied. "There are too many moving parts, you have to trust people around you." On the subject of email, the former editor said it was hard to put a number on how many he received, but said he got a "regular torrent" of messages every day. Coulson said that to save time he would often deal with emails through the preview screen and often only read the top part of the message without opening it.

    The witness was then shown an email from April 2004 that he sent to various other senior figures at the paper headed "our think-tank". Coulson said these were traditional in newspapers "partly for bonding, partly for generating ideas" and would be attended by newspaper executives, senior journalists, and columnists and would be held every year. This memo was his follow up to that year's meeting, he said. The ideas mentioned included "new cartoonist, anti-PC campaign, children's champion, cash for pictures, pensioners and pets". The memo then mentioned "school of excellence", which the witness explained was a training programme for journalists about the Press Complaints Commission's (PCC) code of conduct and legal issues. The next email shown to the court was headlined "Eastenders orgy" which mentioned "we have the girl's voicemails". The witness said that he did not remember the story but assumed in this case the women involved were co-operating with the paper and had handed over their own voicemails.

    The defence QC then moved on to the issue of the PCC code of conduct and copies of the 2003 edition were given to the jury. This stated that newspapers should not use "clandestine listening devices or intercept private phone calls" except where this can be demonstrated to be in the "public interest". Coulson said he was "confident that would have been brought to my attention and everyone else who worked at the paper", pointing out that his deputy Neil Wallis sat on the PCC and his "boss" Les Hinton chaired the code committee. "This is them catching up with the law," Judge Sanders suggested. "I don't know," Coulson replied.

    The former editor was then asked about the legal risks he had to be concerned about when running a newspaper. Coulson said libel was a big concern and also journalists "getting into trouble with the law during investigation work" such as smuggling items on to an aircraft to test airport security. In another investigation, the court was told, a News of the World journalist, David McGee, "became a prison officer" and was given the job of guarding the cell of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, leading to an article shown to the jury about "the shambles of prison security". This, Coulson confirmed, led to court action against the reporter concerned, but charges against him were later dropped. The investigation concerned "was clearly in the public interest", he said.

    Asked to define the "public interest", Coulson agreed it was difficult but said it covered issues such as crime, serious misconduct and public safety. The former editor told the court that if NSA leaker Edward Snowden had come to him he would not have published a story as it might "put lives at risk". Coulson went on to tell the court he believed that celebrities making money out of their fame by "engaging with the media... weren't in position to complain about negative stories". "Does that justify hacking their voicemail?" Judge Saunders asked. "No, not at all," the defendant replied. The court then took a short break.

    When proceedings resumed, the defendant was asked about an email in which he referenced "the dark arts". Coulson told the court this was a common phrase in the newspaper industry and referred to techniques like surveillance, the use of secret cameras and "blagging" such as sneaking into a celebrity party or obtaining a phone number though misrepresentation. The defendant told the court that people would also talk about "spinning a mobile or turning a mobile", which meant obtaining an address through a phone number. "There are perfectly legal ways to do that," Coulson told the court. The former editor admitted to the court that on the issue of his journalists obtaining phone records he "should have interrogated that more". Coulson was then asked when the "dark arts crossed the line". The witness said that "this would depend on the story" and the public interest would have to be taken into account. On the issue of accessing voicemails the former editor agreed that would "cross the line" and be "unacceptable".

    The jury was then shown a front page story from March 2004 about a jockey and allegations he was involved in the "fixing" of horse races. Coulson told the court he had ignored the advice of a senior legal adviser, who we cannot name, and ran the story. This led to the paper paying out a substantial settlement in damages. Other emails from various members of News of the World staff clearing stories or seeking information from the legal adviser were then shown to the court. The adviser was also consulted about possible legal sanctions over pictures being taken in a "high security hospital". Another story discussed with the legal adviser was headlined "Pope Candidate and Paedophile". The legal advice was that they couldn't run the story. The defendant told the court about his "respect" for this "very experienced" person, adding: "In general terms I followed his advice."

    The defence QC then showed the jury a number of News of the World headlines about campaigns the paper ran when the Coulson was editor. These included "justice for the 7/7 victims" and an anti-bullying in schools campaign.

    The defence barrister then turned to a series of stories from the News of the World in July 2004 about then England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and a woman, Faria Alam. These ran over four weeks under the headline "Svengate". "The first stories came from a source," Coulson told the court. A source, he said, that "that was known to me". Further stories came from Alam herself, Coulson said, as part of a "buy up".

    Court then adjourned until tomorrow.

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

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

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