Former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid empire, Rebekah Brooks, is one of six people to be charged over alleged attempts to conceal evidence of the country’s tabloid phone hacking scandal, MSNBC is reporting. Alison Levitt, the principal legal adviser to Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions, released a statement saying “there is sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction.”
If Brooks is convicted, she could face a prison sentence. Others to be charged in the case are Brooks’ race horse trainer husband, her secretary and other staff from News International, including her driver and security officials. All are set to answer bail today, which is when they’ll be officially charged.
Brooks quit as News International chief executive in July. She faces three separate allegations of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She was accused of conspiring to permanently removing seven boxes of material from the archive of News International. She was believed to conceal documents, computers and other electronic equipment from officers of the Metropolitan Police Service.
The criminal charges were the first to be filed after police launched in January 2011 a new inquiry into phone hacking. The offenses are believed to have occurred in the days last July before Murdoch closed the 168-year-old News of the World.
Written by: Karen Benardello
