Rebekah Brooks Found Not Guilty in Phone Hacking Case (Nytimes)

LONDON — Rebekah Brooks, the former head of Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper holdings in Britain, was acquitted on Tuesday of charges in a high-profile phone-hacking trial, but Andy Coulson, her deputy and a onetime head of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron, was found guilty on at least one charge.

The verdicts after a week of deliberations by a jury came after lengthy hearings into a scandal at the Murdoch news empire that shook the British police, news media and political elite and forced the closure of a leading Sunday tabloid.

Ms. Brooks and Mr. Coulson had been among seven defendants facing an array of charges including phone hacking and perverting the course of justice.

Mr. Coulson was the only person among the seven found guilty of conspiracy to intercept mobile phone calls and messages.

Ms. Brooks was cleared of phone hacking and three other charges, including seeking to obstruct the course of justice.The most serious hacking allegation concerned the cell phone of a kidnapped teenager who was subsequently found dead. The voicemail of the teenager, Milly Dowler, was intercepted by an investigator employed by The News of the World in 2002, when Ms. Brooks was editor of the weekly and Mr. Coulson was her deputy and sometime lover.

The 130-day trial, tense and at times tawdry, has given a rare view of the inner workings of British tabloid journalism and the close links that prevailed among journalists, politicians and senior police officials.

Reporters in the courtroom said Ms. Brooks was overcome by emotion when the verdict was read and was led away by a court official.

Among the other people acquitted were Stuart Kuttner, a retired managing editor; Ms. Brooks’ husband, Charlie Brooks; and her former personal assistant, Cheryl Carter. Mark Hanna, a former security director, was also cleared.

But the jury was said to be considering further charges against Mr. Coulson and against a former royals editor of The News of the World, on charges related to paying police officers for access to royal telephone directories, British media outlets said.

Thoughout the scandal and the trial, much attention focused on the flame-haired figure of Ms. Brooks, who had been one of the most powerful figures in British tabloid journalism and was an associate of many influential people, including Mr. Cameron.

But the role played by Mr. Coulson also had wide political significance because of his role alongside Mr. Cameron, both in opposition and after the Conservative party took power in a coalition in 2010.

Mr. Cameron’s initial defense of Mr. Coulson drew taunts from opposition politicians about his political judgment — questions that are likely to be raised again in light of Mr. Coulson’s conviction.

The case also raised an array of concerns about Mr. Murdoch’s influence over British public life through his newspapers.