David Cameron's former media chief Andy Coulson admitted today that an affair he had with Rebekah Brooks when the two worked for Rupert Murdoch was wrong but said their close relationship did not mean they shared secrets during work.
Mr Coulson, who edited Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World from 2003 to 2007, is on trial alongside Ms Brooks, the ex-boss of News Corp’s British newspaper arm, over charges related to phone hacking and other offences.
The prosecution, who had revealed the affair between the two high-profile media executives earlier in the trial, have said their close ties meant both knew as much as the other about the criminal activities of senior journalists on the paper.
“There was an affair that started in 1998,” Mr Coulson told the jury, taking the stand for the first time during the five and a half month trial. “It ended quite soon after but it did re-start.
“What I want to say is that it was not by any means continual.
“I don’t want to minimise it or excuse it, it was wrong, it shouldn’t have happened and I take my full share of responsibility for the pain it has caused other people, not least my wife”.
Mr Coulson, who denies conspiring to hack into phones or paying public officals, left Mr Murdoch’s mass-selling News of the World tabloid in 2007, when a reporter pleaded guilty to hacking into phones related to the royal family.
Mr Coulson said at the time that he had not known about the hacking but felt he should stand down due to the seriousness of the offence.
Mr Coulson, who left school at 18 to join his local paper, went on to work for Mr Cameron in 2007 when he was leader of the opposition Conservatives and moved with him into Downing Street after the May 2010 election when he became prime minister.
Mr Coulson, now 46, quit the role in January 2011 when the phone-hacking scandal re-emerged as a major issue.
His arrest in 2011 proved hugely embarrassing for Mr Cameron, who was accused by his critics of showing poor judgement in hiring him. Mr Coulson said he had not spoken to the prime minister since he was arrested.
“Not long after, my family and I spent a weekend with him, I think that was in the Spring, it may have been in the April, after I left,” Mr Coulson told the Old Bailey.
“I haven’t spoken to him since,” added Mr Coulson, who was first arrested in July 2011.
Mr Coulson and Ms Brooks are accused of conspiracy to illegally intercept voicemails on mobile phones and authorising illegal payments to public officials.
Five others are also on trial and they all deny the charges. The trial continues.
Reuters