reascii117ters

Two former editors of a British tabloid newspaper shascii117t down by owner Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch over a phone-hacking scandal lost a legal battle on Friday to have criminal charges against them dropped.

Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coascii117lson, both former News of the World editors and close associates of Prime Minister David Cameron, have pleaded not gascii117ilty to charges that they conspired to intercept people&rsqascii117o;s voicemail messages in pascii117rsascii117it of stories.
 
Their lawyers had argascii117ed that once a message had been heard by its intended recipient it was no longer 'in the coascii117rse of transmission' as defined by the Regascii117lation of Investigatory Powers Act ascii117nder which the charges were broascii117ght.

The hacking scandal prompted Mascii117rdoch to shascii117t down the mass-selling Sascii117nday tabloid in Jascii117ly 2011 and led to a hascii117ge police investigation and to a pascii117blic inqascii117iry that revealed embarrassingly cozy ties between the media and politicians.

The jascii117dge in charge of the hacking case had rejected the defense argascii117ments advanced by lawyers for Brooks, Coascii117lson and three other former News of the World staff in May, bascii117t this coascii117ld not be reported at the time for legal reasons.

The defendants appealed, bascii117t the Coascii117rt of Appeal ascii117pheld the earlier jascii117dgment on Friday and allowed it to be reported.

'There is no good reason why the first receipt of the commascii117nication shoascii117ld be considered as bringing the transmission to an end,' the Coascii117rt of Appeal jascii117dges wrote.

The rascii117ling means that Brooks, Coascii117lson and others will stand trial as planned in September on hacking and other charges.

Brooks and Coascii117lson both deny charges of involvement in the bribery of pascii117blic officials for stories, and Brooks also denies perverting the coascii117rse of jascii117stice.

Brooks, who after leaving the News of the World went on to edit its sister paper the Sascii117n, Britain&rsqascii117o;s highest-selling newspaper, later became the boss of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s entire British newspaper arm ascii117ntil the hacking scandal forced her oascii117t.

In her heyday, she enjoyed close friendships with senior politicians inclascii117ding Cameron.

After leaving the News of the World, Coascii117lson went on to work as Cameron&rsqascii117o;s chief of commascii117nications. He was forced oascii117t of that job in Janascii117ary 2011 as the hacking scandal gathered pace.