Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks face Operation Elveden charges

20 November 2012 Last updated at 12:43




Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks face Operation Elveden charges


Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are among five people set to face charges
Ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson and ex-News International executive Rebekah Brooks are to be charged in connection with payments to police and public officials.

The Crown Prosecution Service said journalists Clive Goodman and John Kay and MoD employee Bettina Jordan-Barber were also facing action.

Mr Coulson has issued a statement saying he denies the allegations.

Operation Elveden is the Met Police investigation into corrupt payments.

Mr Coulson, Mr Goodman, Mrs Brooks and Ms Jordan-Barber are to be charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

Mr Kay, who is the chief reporter of the Sun, has already been charged.

Mr Coulson and Mr Goodman, who is the former royal correspondent of the now-defunct News of the World newspaper, are to be charged with two conspiracies relating to the request and authorisation of alleged payments to public officials in exchange for information, including a royal phone directory known as the "Green Book".
'Public interest'
It is said to have contained contact details for the Royal Family and members of the royal household.

Former Sun journalist John Kay has been charged
The two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office involve one between 31 August 2002 and 31 January 2003 and another between 31 January and 3 June 2005.

In a statement, Mr Coulson said he was "extremely disappointed" by the CPS's decision.

"I deny the allegations made against me and will fight the charges in court," he said.

Ms Jordan-Barber, Mr Kay and Mrs Brooks face one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2012.

The MoD said it would not comment on the charges related to its employee.

Alison Levitt QC, principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said: "All of these matters were considered carefully in accordance with the DPP's guidelines on the public interest in cases affecting the media.
Other inquiries
"This guidance asks prosecutors to consider whether the public interest served by the conduct in question outweighs the overall criminality before bringing criminal proceedings."

Mr Kay has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 29 November 2012.

The other four are set to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on a date to be fixed.

There is one remaining suspect who is still being investigated in relation to the charges faced by Mrs Brooks, Mr Kay and Ms Jordan-Barber.

So far 52 people have been arrested as part of Operation Elveden.

Two of them, a retired police officer and a former journalist, have been informed that they will face no further action.

Operation Elveden is being run alongside two other inquiries - Operation Weeting, which is looking at allegations of phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta, an inquiry into accusations of computer hacking and other privacy breaches.

The investigations into possible media and police misconduct followed allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World, which led to the closure of the paper after 168 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20405915#

Common Law offence.
Maximum penalty - Life Imprisonment.

Oh dear, considerably more serious than perverting the Course of Justice.

Will Ms Brooks be sms...ing Cameron to come to her rescue....."we are in it together.....,"Yes, we cam" and all...
Isn't that her congratulatory text to him when he got successfully elected?

She stood by him in his hours of need...will he return the favour?

http://www.mjplaw.co.uk/blog/2012/05/perverting-the-course-of-justice-explained/

The maximum sentence give for perverting the course of justice is life; however the average sentence is more like 10 months. Owen Bowcott, the Guardian’s legal affairs correspondent, has said that “If found guilty, Rebekah and Charlie Brooks and others charged today with perverting the course of justice are likely to face an immediate custodial sentence”.

And that was the previous three charges.
This is a new set.

Effectively, they could possibly face multiple charges

Perverting the Course of Justice - destroying evidence etc.
Corruption - paying Public Officials....
Perjury - lying...
?
?

Porridge time ahead, I would imagine!

aiyoyo wrote:Effectively, they could possibly face multiple charges

Perverting the Course of Justice - destroying evidence etc.
Corruption - paying Public Officials....
Perjury - lying...
?
?

Porridge time ahead, I would imagine!

Too close to government (past & present) for that to happen, methinks

listener wrote:

aiyoyo wrote:Effectively, they could possibly face multiple charges

Perverting the Course of Justice - destroying evidence etc.
Corruption - paying Public Officials....
Perjury - lying...
?
?

Porridge time ahead, I would imagine!

Too close to government (past & present) for that to happen, methinks

Always that possibility I suppose.
But for the government now to try and influence or lean on the judiciary, and hope not to be found out by the Press is a tall order.

aiyoyo wrote:

listener wrote:

aiyoyo wrote:Effectively, they could possibly face multiple charges

Perverting the Course of Justice - destroying evidence etc.
Corruption - paying Public Officials....
Perjury - lying...
?
?

Porridge time ahead, I would imagine!

Too close to government (past & present) for that to happen, methinks

Always that possibility I suppose.
But for the government now to try and influence or lean on the judiciary, and hope not to be found out by the Press is a tall order.

Well I guess that would depend on how well their MMU does it's job. I thought it worked wonders a couple of weeks ago!

IMHO of coarse!

listener wrote:[...]
IMHO of coarse!

***
No offense meant, but ... if it' wasn't a typo, it's actually a good one