Rebekah Brooks phone hacking trial delayed by seven weeks
The trial of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been delayed by seven weeks.
Brooks and a number of other defendants – including her husband Charlie, her former secretary Cheryl Carter, and prime minister David Cameron’s former head of communications Andy Coulson – were due to face charges relating to phone hacking in a three month trial starting on 9 September.
However, Mr Justice Saunders had decided to delay the trial until 28 October for legal reasons that cannot be reported.
Brooks denies a total of five charges, including conspiracy to hack phones, conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by allegedly trying to hide evidence from police.
The other defendants are all former employees of now defunct tabloid News of the World: former managing editor Stuart Kuttner, former head of news Ian Edmondson, head of security Mark Hanna, and former royal correspondent Clive Goodman.