LONDON - Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks told jurors at her phone-hacking trial Friday that she did not know of a substantial contract between her newspaper and a private investigator who has admitted illegal eavesdropping.
She said she was unaware of a contract for her newspaper to pay about $150,000 a year to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, although she acknowledged that an expenditure of that magnitude normally would have required her approval.
Brooks, 45, faces one charge of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office, as well as charges of conspiring to hack phones and obstruct police. Her husband, race horse trainer Charlie Brooks, and her former deputy and ex-lover Andy Coulson also are on trial.
The jury had learned of her affair with Coulson when the prosecution presented its case earlier in the trial, which has lasted four months so far. Evidence about the affair was introduced to show the close relationship between Brooks and Coulson in support of the prosecution claim that they were part of a conspiracy.
The defendants have denied any wrongdoing in the long-running phone-hacking scandal, which led to the closing of the News of the World tabloid.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 02/22/2014