NI paid phone hacker's legal fees to stop him 'naming names', court hears
Rebekah Brooks says News International believed Glenn Mulcaire 'could say anyone or anything' in Max Clifford civil case
News International
agreed to pay Glenn Mulcaire's legal fees to stop him implicating other
reporters in a court case brought by Max Clifford, Rebekah Brooks told
the phone-hacking trial. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
News International agreed to pay phone hacker Glenn Mulcaire's
legal fees to stop him implicating other reporters in a court case that
loomed after PR Max Clifford launched civil proceedings for damages over
hacking, the Old Bailey has heard.
Giving evidence for a seventh day in the phone-hacking trial, Rebekah Brooks said she was not involved in the decision taken in 2009 but she agreed with it at the time.
The firm's lawyer Tom Crone agreed to pay for Mulcaire to be represented after it transpired that he could be forced to identify who had commissioned him to hack phones if Clifford's case came to court.
Brooks told the court: "We were opposing that order – again this is in the context of a civil liability – on the basis that he was an unreliable witness going forward naming names, and both financially and reputationally we didn't want that to happen. "The view was that he could say anyone or anything."
She said there were concerns after it emerged during police disclosure that Mulcaire's notes appeared to include the names of other people apart from the five victims named in the proceedings against him in 2008 which included Clifford but also sports agent Sky Andrews.
"The list of potential civil claimants was growing sideways if you like," she said under examination by her defence counsel Jonathan Laidlaw QC.
"Our decision at News International was to settle as confidentially as possible to prevent further damage reputationally and financially."
She said he "inherited" that policy and "maintained it with Max Clifford".
Brooks, who became News International chief executive in 2009, said that News Group Newspapers, publisher of the News of the World and the Sun had fallen out with Clifford and her predecessor Les Hinton had imposed a ban on working with him. He had earned "millions and millions of pounds" for stories from the publisher, she said.
The jury heard that Brooks struck a deal with Clifford for £200,000 a year in 2009 to resume business with the Sun and the News of the World, ending the three- or four-year ban.
Brooks said he felt he needed to be compensated for loss of earnings over the blackout period.
Asked if the civil case caused her concern that hacking might have taken place during her editorship, she replied: "Absolutely not, at this stage we are still dealing with 2005 or 2006."
Asked whether whether "throughout 2010" she ever had concerns that hacking took place on the News of the World, which she edited between 2000 and 2003, she responsed: "No".
The court heard that the Guardian reported that Sienna Miller had launched civil proceedings for hacking in 2010 but Brooks felt suspending the NoW reporter the paper claimed to be involved was not the right course of action.
At the time News Corp had launched a takeover bid for BSkyB and the Guardian revelation led to an exchange of emails with the then head of corporate affairs, Matthew Anderson.
Brooks said that announcing the journalist's suspension was not going to "change Vince Cable's view" of the bid.
She commented on BBC political editor Nick Robinson's view of the Miller article, jurors heard. "He rubbished the whole thing and said it was one side of the civil case and total unprofessional reporting," she said.
Brooks denies four charges that she conspired to hack phones, conspired to conceal evidence from police, and conspired to pay public officials for stories.
The trial continues.
Giving evidence for a seventh day in the phone-hacking trial, Rebekah Brooks said she was not involved in the decision taken in 2009 but she agreed with it at the time.
The firm's lawyer Tom Crone agreed to pay for Mulcaire to be represented after it transpired that he could be forced to identify who had commissioned him to hack phones if Clifford's case came to court.
Brooks told the court: "We were opposing that order – again this is in the context of a civil liability – on the basis that he was an unreliable witness going forward naming names, and both financially and reputationally we didn't want that to happen. "The view was that he could say anyone or anything."
She said there were concerns after it emerged during police disclosure that Mulcaire's notes appeared to include the names of other people apart from the five victims named in the proceedings against him in 2008 which included Clifford but also sports agent Sky Andrews.
"The list of potential civil claimants was growing sideways if you like," she said under examination by her defence counsel Jonathan Laidlaw QC.
"Our decision at News International was to settle as confidentially as possible to prevent further damage reputationally and financially."
She said he "inherited" that policy and "maintained it with Max Clifford".
Brooks, who became News International chief executive in 2009, said that News Group Newspapers, publisher of the News of the World and the Sun had fallen out with Clifford and her predecessor Les Hinton had imposed a ban on working with him. He had earned "millions and millions of pounds" for stories from the publisher, she said.
The jury heard that Brooks struck a deal with Clifford for £200,000 a year in 2009 to resume business with the Sun and the News of the World, ending the three- or four-year ban.
Brooks said he felt he needed to be compensated for loss of earnings over the blackout period.
Asked if the civil case caused her concern that hacking might have taken place during her editorship, she replied: "Absolutely not, at this stage we are still dealing with 2005 or 2006."
Asked whether whether "throughout 2010" she ever had concerns that hacking took place on the News of the World, which she edited between 2000 and 2003, she responsed: "No".
The court heard that the Guardian reported that Sienna Miller had launched civil proceedings for hacking in 2010 but Brooks felt suspending the NoW reporter the paper claimed to be involved was not the right course of action.
At the time News Corp had launched a takeover bid for BSkyB and the Guardian revelation led to an exchange of emails with the then head of corporate affairs, Matthew Anderson.
Brooks said that announcing the journalist's suspension was not going to "change Vince Cable's view" of the bid.
She commented on BBC political editor Nick Robinson's view of the Miller article, jurors heard. "He rubbished the whole thing and said it was one side of the civil case and total unprofessional reporting," she said.
Brooks denies four charges that she conspired to hack phones, conspired to conceal evidence from police, and conspired to pay public officials for stories.
The trial continues.
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