Phone hacking: it was right to charge Rebekah Brooks, says Keir Starmer

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/29/phone-hacking-rebekah-brooks-keir-starmer

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Prosecutors were right to charge Rebekah Brooks and other News of the World executives over conspiracy to hack phones as the trials have helped determine who knew about widespread malpractice at the newspaper, Sir Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, has said.

The senior QC, who is understood to be considering running as a Labour MP, said the court cases exposed vital details about phone-hacking at the newspaper, even though Brooks, her assistant Cheryl Carter, husband Charlie Brooks and managing editor Stuart Kuttner were cleared.

In contrast, Brooks's former deputy and lover Andy Coulson, a former head of communications to David Cameron, was found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones. Dan Evans, a reporter, and Greg Miskiw, an editor, Neville Thurlbeck, former chief reporter, James Weatherup, a reporter and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, have all pleaded guilty to charges related to phone hacking. Mulcaire and the former royal reporter Clive Goodman previously went to jail for phone hacking in 2006.

Starmer defended the trial of Brooks, her husband, Coulson, Carter and Kuttner as necessary to get to the bottom of the allegations.

"What has been exposed is hacking at a high level, widespread hacking, and the question was who knew about it, and some of those questions have been answered by this trial," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

"Has anything really changed? The answer to that is yes. Before this trial … there was a feeling that journalists were above the law. I don't think there is that feeling any more.

"So far as Rebekah Brooks is concerned, the judge determined on a number of occasions that there was a case to answer, so it was a perfectly good case to bring.

"She answered it and I fully respect the jury's verdict. She put her case and she answered it and we must respect that fully. But the deeper question is, is anybody above the law? This has answered that."

Starmer also gave his view on reports that News International allegedly paid for the phone records of Freddie Scappaticci, a double agent within the provisional IRA, suggesting that this may have been a matter of public interest.

"This links nicely to the Rebekah Brooks story, because I think whilst it's trying to say that nobody should be above the law here, there has to be a public interest in journalists doing their business, and not every transgression should necessarily be prosecuted, that's one of the things we have to make very clear," he said. "I issued guidelines on that. I don't think we should leap to the position, having said nobody is above the law, necessarily means everybody should be prosecuted, because journalists do serve the public interest in what they do and that has to be preserved."

Starmer is rumoured to be considering putting himself forward as a candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras seat of Frank Dobson, who is likely to stand down although this has not been announced. Asked by Marr about his political ambitions within Labour, he said: "If and when I make my decision, I'll make sure you're one of the first to know."

William Hague, the foreign secretary, was also asked about the phone-hacking trial on Sunday, telling the same programme that the exposure of the scandal had led to a "greater distance now between politicians and the press".

"I think that is probably healthier for our democracy than the situation that prevailed before," he said.

Asked if he felt sympathy for Coulson, Hague said: "I've always got sympathy for the predicament of anybody I know who has fallen on very difficult situations or brought it on themselves."