Coulson GUILTY of conspiring to hack phones between 2000 and 2006

Re: Rebekah Brooks innocent?

"Brooks wasn't found guilty of conspiracy to pay public officials when she said that's precisely what she did do"

Indeed, but think about the bigger picture here.

If it's accepted by The Powers That Be that what Brooks/Wade said to Parliament was/is true, i.e. she did e.g. pay Metropolitan Police officers for information, then there is potentially a consequent implication that members of the Metropolitan Police may have been appearing to act corruptly.

Bring that kind of thing out in court and where does it all end?

We can't have the reputation of the Metropolitan Police dragged through the courts like that, surely?

Re: Brooks is FOUND innocent

Maybe I'm a bit of a conspiracist (too much X Files, Shadow Line and House of Cards), but someone must have known that the Milly Dowler phone hacking accusations would just be a convenient straw man that would divert attention from the very real corruption going on long enough for the people to forget about the shady stuff after the outrage faded.

Plus, as @DrPizza tweeted: if Andy Coulson could be found guilty under existing law, then why do we need new laws to regulate the press?

Re: Brooks is FOUND innocent

She IS innocent.

The jury are instructed that they must be sure of a defendants guilt beyond "all reasonable doubt". My reading of the evidence is that in Brooks' case there was no "smoking gun" in relation to the phone hacking charges, but that the prosecution were arguing there was compelling reasons to assume guilt on the basis of her behaviour. It was alleged that this behaviour amounted to an attempt to pervert the course of justice in collusion with her PA, her husband and the head of security at News International.

I strongly recommend that people check the coverage in Private Eye for a good summary of the evidence presented in court. Personally I found it compelling with regard to the attempt to pervert the course of justice, but that thanks to the arguably botched evidence gathering by the police there was not enough evidence to convict on the phone hacking charges. As an example of how the police actions seem to have been inadequate, on first attempting a search of the NI offices in the aftermath of the Guardian's revelations, they allowed NI staff to intimidate them into leaving without having conducted a thorough search.

Re: Brooks is FOUND innocent

"Brooks has not been found innocent. She IS innocent. It sticks in my craw to say it, especially after the witch hunts against innocent people that occured under her watch. But the principle must stand that it is the job of the prosecution to prove guilt, rather than the defence to prove innocence. Hence innocent unless proven guilty."

She has been found NOT GUILTY (beyond reasonable doubt) and therefore must be presumed innocent. Whether she is truly innocent or not we can't say; not if they want to avoid a libel suit anyway but interestingly if that happened I believe they would only have to prove that she was guilty on the balance of probabilities not beyond reasonable doubt.

Re: Brooks is FOUND innocent @Red Bren

You get my upvote for that "unless", a point I have repeatedly had to make to commentards who say "until."