Andy Coulson, background, former News of the World editor leaves the Central Criminal Court in London on Tuesday, June 24, 2014.LONDON – It was a simple trick – punching in passcodes to listen to messages left on other people’s phones.
For years the illegal technique, known as phone hacking, helped Britain’s News of the World tabloid get juicy stories about celebrities, politicians and royalty.
But the fallout eventually led to the shutdown of the country’s best-selling newspaper, split Rupert Murdoch’s powerful media empire and brought a storm of outrage down on the country’s rambunctious press.
On Tuesday, the scandal brought a criminal conviction for former editor Andy Coulson on a charge of conspiring to hack phones – and an apology from Prime Minister David Cameron, who employed Coulson as his spin doctor.
Fellow News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, a Murdoch protege who was the chief executive of his British newspaper operation, was acquitted of all charges, as were her husband and three other defendants.