Rebekah Brooks

77
Rebekah Brooks bigraphy, stories - Journalist

Rebekah Brooks : biography

27 May 1968 –

Rebekah Mary Brooks (née Wade; born 27 May 1968) is a British journalist and former newspaper editor. She was Chief Executive Officer of News International from 2009 to 2011, having previously served as the youngest editor of a British national newspaper at News of the World from 2000 to 2003, and the first female editor of The Sun from 2003 to 2009. Brooks married actor Ross Kemp in 2002. They divorced in 2009 and she married former racehorse trainer and author Charlie Brooks.

Brooks is a prominent figure in the News International phone hacking scandal, having been the editor of the News of the World when illegal phone hacking was allegedly carried out by the newspaper. On 15 July 2011, Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International, following widespread criticism of her role in the controversy. Sky News, 15 July 2011. On 17 July 2011, she was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption – making corrupt payments to public officials.Helen Lewis-Hasteley , July 17, 2011, accessed August 16, 2011.The Guardian, 21 March 2012, On 13 March 2012, she was again arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. On 15 May 2012, Brooks was charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Mrs Brooks said she was “baffled” by the decision to charge her.

Rebekah Brooks and her husband appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on 13 June on charges linked to the phone hacking scandal. District Judge Howard Riddle told the defendants they would go on trial at a later date at Southwark Crown Court remanding Mrs Brooks and her husband on bail until the next hearing on 22 June.

On 24 July 2012, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Brooks would be charged, along with six other former members of the staff of the News of the World, with conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority, from 3 October 2000 to 9 August 2006. In addition to this "generic" charge, Brooks would be charged with four specific counts of conspiracy to intercept communications without lawful authority. These include a charge relating to the hacking of the voicemail of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

Phone hacking scandal

A police enquiry revealed that the News of the World had a routine practice of intercepting mobile phone messages of celebrities, politicians and other public figures. The newspaper’s reporter, Clive Goodman, and Glenn Mulcaire, a hired investigator, were convicted and jailed for intercepting the phone messages of members of the Royal Family in 2006.

Questioning by MPs

In 2003, under questioning by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons, Chris Bryant, MP, asked her and Andy Coulson whether either of their newspapers had ever been involved in various improper acts. Brooks replied, "We have paid police for information in the past." Andy Coulson stepped in to say that payments were only made lawfully. The Sun, of which Brooks was editor, subsequently ridiculed Chris Bryant in a number of articles, starting with one about a photograph of him in his underpants from a gay dating website. Brooks later claimed that in her response to Bryant’s question she had merely been speaking about the widespread belief that payments had been made to police, and denied having any knowledge of specific payments.

According to MPs, Rebekah Brooks refused three times to attend the committee again to be questioned further, resulting in four committee members "considering asking the Serjeant at Arms to issue a warrant forcing Brooks to attend"; however they subsequently dropped this proposal because they believed their private lives would be investigated if they did so. John Whittingdale, chair of the committee, stated there was a conversation "about the possible repercussions of issuing a warrant for Brooks but said that did not have any bearing on his decision and he did not believe News International would target committee members."