Key former aides of media baron Rupert Murdoch and Prime Minister David Cameron were charged with criminal conspiracy to hack into phones of individuals and other charges on Tuesday, taking the year-long phone-hacking row to a new level.
Rebekah Brooks, Murdoch’s high-profile former aide and editor of the News of the World, and Andy Coulson, who was Cameron’s director of communications, are among the eight persons facing 19 charges related to the phone-hacking.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the eight, who were arrested earlier and are currently on bail, have been informed of the charges that include conspiring to intercept communications between October 13, 2001 and August 9, 2006. The charges have been framed against them following evidence, which was gathered during a series of ongoing inquiries initiated by Scotland Yard, was presented to the CPS.
Besides Brooks and Coulson, the others include former News of the World managing and news editors, chief reporter and private investigator.