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#Post#: 25--------------------------------------------------
UK PM's Ex-media Chief Coulson Jailed For Murdoch Tabloid Hackin
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By: kingrollex Date: July 4, 2014, 5:55 pm
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LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister
David Cameron's former media chief Andy
Coulson was jailed for 18 months on Friday
for encouraging widespread phone-hacking by
journalists to obtain scoops at the Rupert
Murdoch-owned tabloid he edited.
Coulson, editor of the now defunct News of the
World newspaper from 2003-2007, was
convicted last week of conspiracy to intercept
voicemails on mobile phones following a
high-profile eight-month trial at London's Old
Bailey court.
"What this says is that it's right that justice
should be done and that no one is above the
law," said Cameron, who has apologised for
having hired Coulson.
Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband has
criticised Cameron for bringing a "criminal
into the heart of Downing Street".
The maximum sentence the 46-year-old
Coulson could have faced was two years but
the judge said he had taken into account
signs of good character outside his career.
Coulson showed no emotion as the sentence
was read out in a packed Court 12 at
London's Old Bailey court.
"Mr Coulson ... has to take the major blame
for the phone hacking at the News of the
World," judge John Saunders said. "He knew
about it and encouraged it when he should
have stopped it."
The sentence was passed exactly three years
to the day that the Guardian newspaper
published revelations that staff on the paper
had hacked into the voicemails of murdered
schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
That sparked widespread outrage across the
country and prompted Murdoch to close the
168-year-old tabloid just days later. It
emerged that the newspaper had listened into
messages of thousands of targets - from
movie stars to crime victims to government
ministers - to obtain information for scoops.
The judge said Coulson must have known
about the failure of the paper to immediately
tell police about Dowler's voicemails, an act
he described as "unforgivable".
Coulson, found guilty of conspiracy to illegally
intercept voicemails on mobile phones, was
the only one of seven defendants to be
convicted following a long-running trial, one
of the most expensive of its kind in British
legal history.
Rebekah Brooks, his predecessor as News of
the World editor who later ran News Corp.'s
British newspaper arm, was among those
found not guilty of phone-hacking and other
allegations. The two had been lovers for part
of the time they worked together, according to
testimony that emerged during the trial.
Three ex-senior journalists from the paper
who pleaded guilty before the trial began were
also sentenced on Friday.
Assistant Editor Greg Miskiw and Chief
Reporter Neville Thurlbeck were given six
months in jail, while one-time News Editor
James Weatherup received a four month
suspended prison sentence.
Glenn Mulcaire, a former private investigator
who had already gone to jail for earlier
hacking offences on behalf of the paper, was
given a six month suspended sentence after
admitting further crimes including tapping
Dowler's phone.
"ROGUE REPORTER"
Phone-hacking became public knowledge in
2006 when the tabloid's former royal editor
Clive Goodman and Mulcaire admitted they
had hacked the phones of royal aides. The
paper said at the time Goodman was a rogue
reporter acting alone.
Coulson quit the paper after they were jailed,
denying that he had knowledge of their illegal
activity. Within months he began working for
Cameron in opposition and joined him in
Downing Street after the 2010 election.
Coulson resigned after revelations in 2011
that the hacking at his former newspaper had
been much more expansive than the paper
had previously admitted.
Former staff who worked on the paper have
told Reuters hacking was carried out in a
haphazard fashion, targeting whoever
happened to be in the headlines at the time.
Coulson's trial heard how a woman called
Laura Rooney was hacked simply because she
had the same surname as the England soccer
player Wayne Rooney.
The criminal action against Coulson is still
not over. He faces a re-trial after the jury
failed to reach a verdict over allegations he
authorised Goodman to make illegal payments
to police officers to obtain the telephone
directories of Britain's royal family.
Prosecutors are also considering whether to
instigate corporate charges against News
Corp.'s British paper business. It has said it
has changed the way it operates and has
apologised to hacking victims.
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