Case against Coulson‘not rigorous or fair’

THE CA SE against former News of the World editor A ndy Coulson was neither “rigorous, open-minded or fair”, the hacking trial has heard.

A number of “gaps in the evidence” in the prosecution against Coulson were highlighted by his lawyer in his closing speech at the Old Bailey.

A mong them wa s the failure by police to fingerprint members of the royal household to check if one of their number, and not unidentif ied police officers, was the source of royal directories sold to the newspaper, jurors were told.

The prosecution also kept evidence of the extent of former royal editor Clive Goodman’s phone hacking from the jury, leaving it to the defence to expose it for the first time, the court heard.

Coulson, 46, is on trial accused of conspiring to hack phones and to commit misconduct in a public office by agreeing with Goodman to pay for two royal phone books.

His lawyer Timothy Langdale QC told jurors: “Operation We e t i n g commenced in January 2011 as a high-prof ile investigation and attracting a high degree of public interest and media scrutiny. It must have been important that it would be a rigorous investigation.

“We suggest as far as Mr Coulson is concerned it has been none of those things — rigorous, open-minded or fair.

Coulson, along with six co-defendants, denies the charges against him.

PA. Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson.