Brooks and her husband charlie brooks – both close acquaintances of the prime minister – are likely to face trial in the coming weeks on charges of miscarriage of justice, the U.K. Attorney general’s office announced tuesday in london. Four employees of rebekah brooks (43) were also accused of helping her to remove documents, among other things.
Rebekah brooks was chief executive of rupert murdoch’s british newspaper holding company, news international, from 2009 to 2011. She is considered the key figure in the scandal, which also involves too close a relationship between the media and politics and bribing police officers.
Last friday, brooks had to testify before a committee investigating the scandal and had, among other things, put british prime minister david cameron in distress. She maintained close contacts with him at times. She had reported that the latter had sent her cell phone messages with confidential pits such as "lots of love".
The brooks couple colluded to obstruct the work of the judiciary, the crown prosecution service CPS said in its statement explaining the charges. Depending on the situation, this can result in prison sentences of several years in great britain. Immediately after brooks’ initial arrest in the summer of 2011, a laptop computer had been found in a trash can in the vicinity of her home.
Among other things, brooks, her husband, and their associates allegedly withheld documents, computers, and other evidence from the police. Together with her assistant cheryl carter, brooks is alleged to have removed boxes from the archives of news international. With regard to all of the six defendants, there was enough evidence. Charlie brooks is a school friend of prime minister david cameron.
The process may now drag on for weeks and months. The six people involved are the first to be charged in the new investigation into the scandal, which began 18 months ago. On tuesday, police in london again arrested two manners, including a tax official. Allegedly took money from murdoch reporters.
The charges against her are "weak and unjust," a statement from brooks and her husband said. Brooks became editor-in-chief of the now defunct scandal sheet "news of the world," which belonged to the murdoch media empire, in 2000 at the age of 31. In 2003, she became editor-in-chief of murdoch’s "the sun" newspaper. In 2009, she was appointed chief executive officer of news international.
At the height of the media scandal involving tapped phones and answering machines, police bribery and other shady investigative methods, she resigned in july 2011. She had been arrested twice and is currently out on bail fub.