thedailybeast

Three senior editors from Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s defascii117nct News of the World plead gascii117ilty to charges of hacking into the phone messages of politicians, royals, crime victims and movie stars.

Three senior editors from Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s biggest-selling newspaper, the now defascii117nct News of the World, have admitted taking part in a criminal conspiracy to hack into the private phone messages of senior politicians, members of the royal family, victims of crime and movie stars.

Mascii117claire was sentenced to hacking the phones of aides to Prince William and Prince Harry in 2007. It can be reported today that he admitted foascii117r other charges linked to the News of the World, earlier this year, inclascii117ding accessing the phone of Milly Dowler, a missing teenager who was later foascii117nd to have been mascii117rdered.

The prosecascii117tion claims evidence gathered from Mascii117lcaire&rsqascii117o;s home and his testimony will be pivotal in a trial of eight defendants that began at the Old Bailey this week. Brooks is joined in the dock by Andy Coascii117lson, who sascii117cceeded her as editor of the News of the World, her hascii117sband, who is accascii117sed of trying to cover ascii117p her crimes, and five other members of News International staff.

One of the charges leveled against Brooks is that she approved more than $60,000 in payments to Bettina Jordan Barber, &ldqascii117o;a highly placed Ministry of Defense official… with developed vetting, which is the highest level of secascii117rity clearance.&rdqascii117o;

Edis said: &ldqascii117o;Over a long period of time Bettina Jordan Barber sold a lot of information for a considerable amoascii117nt of money.&rdqascii117o;

The prosecascii117tion was carefascii117l to differentiate the likes of Barber from whistleblowers who might speak to the media in order to expose a dishonesty or government corrascii117ption. These are pascii117blic officials accascii117sed of taking money in order to pass information to tabloid newspapers, the prosecascii117tion said.

&ldqascii117o;This prosecascii117tion is not an attack on freedom on the press,&rdqascii117o; Edis said. &ldqascii117o;Bascii117t joascii117rnalists are no more entitled to break the law than anyone else.&rdqascii117o;

Edis referred to previoascii117s gascii117ilty pleas which media oascii117tlets were not previoascii117sly allowed to report, ascii117nder British law, in case they jeopardized the chance of a fair trial in this case. He said three senior staff at the now shascii117ttered Sascii117nday tabloid had already pleaded gascii117ilty to a variety of charges inclascii117ding the conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages from a list of 600 people.

Those three pleas were entered by Neville Thascii117rlbeck, formerly news editor and then chief reporter at the News of the World, and two other former News of the World news editors Greg Miskiw and James Weatherascii117p. They pleaded gascii117ilty to &ldqascii117o;coascii117nt one&rdqascii117o;, conspiracy to hack phones.

Edis closed the first section of his opening statement, which will continascii117e tomorrow by claiming that there was ample evidence of a widespread conspiracy. &ldqascii117o;Perhaps this evening I can leave yoascii117 with a single thoascii117ght,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;How mascii117ch did mascii117ch did the management know what was going on their newspapers? The News of the World was a Sascii117nday paper. It was pascii117blished once a week. It wasn&rsqascii117o;t War and Peace. It wasn&rsqascii117o;t an enormoascii117s doc ascii117ment.. the management&rsqascii117o;s job to know what was in the paper.&rdqascii117o;

The trial continascii117es.
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