British phone-hacking trial for ex-Rupert Murdoch employees starts

Former News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks is one of eight defendants on trial.

Jury selection got under way at London’s Central Criminal Court on Monday in the first trial of the phone-hacking scandal that brought down Rupert Murdoch’s 168-year-old News of the World newspaper and rocked Britain’s political establishment.

Former News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks and former News of the World Editor and one-time communications chief for British Prime Minister David Cameron, Andy Coulson, are among the eight defendants in the dock.

The accused – all of whom are former Murdoch employees except for Brooks’ husband, Charles — have denied the charges against them, which range from illegally hacking the cell phone voicemails of celebrities, bribing public officials and covering up evidence.

A second trial involving journalists from The Sun newspaper, which is also owned by Murdoch, is scheduled for next year. 

The phone-hacking scandal erupted two years ago with revelations that News of the World journalists had allegedly hacked voicemail messages left on the cell phone of murdered British teenager Milly Dowler. That triggered a judge-led media-ethics inquiry and several criminal investigations that led to the arrest of more than 125 people. More than 40 have been charged. 

The scandal revealed the close ties between press barons, police chiefs and senior politicians. The media industry is still at loggerheads with Cameron’s government over how it should be regulated.