Ex-News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson heard Wednesday they will go on trial for phone-hacking in September 2013, leaving the scandal hanging over premier David Cameron for another year.
A British judge set the date for the first trial in the scandal, which led to the closure of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid in July 2011, after several defendants appeared at London’s famed Old Bailey court.
Brooks, 44, is a former head of Murdoch’s British newspaper wing News International and a close friend of Cameron, while Coulson, also 44, is the prime minister’s former director of communications.
Judge Adrian Fulford gave directions for the management of two separate cases: one relates to the illegal hacking of mobile phone voicemails, while the other is over alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice.
The proposed trial date was September 9, 2013, with a further preliminary hearing on December 12 and 13 this year, Fulford said. Brooks, dressed in a cream coat and black skirt, and all other defendants spoke only to confirm their names and their bail was extended.
Appearing with Brooks and Coulson on the phone-hacking charges were the News of the World’s former news editor Greg Miskiw, former head of news Ian Edmondson, former chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, reporter James Weatherup, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
Stuart Kuttner, the News of the World’s former managing editor, has also been charged with phone hacking but was not in court on Wednesday.
