LONDON — One of Rupert Murdoch’s most trusted lieutenants and five people close to her were charged Tuesday with conspiring to hide evidence of phone hacking, bringing the scandal that has raged across Britain’s media and political elite close to Prime Minister David Cameron.
The charges against former editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband Charlie and four aides are the first prosecutions since police reopened inquiries 18 months ago into wrongdoing by the country’s scandal-hungry press.
Cameron is a neighbor and friend of the couple.
Brooks, 43, faces three allegations of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The law-breaking allegedly involved removing computers and files in the frantic days last summer when Murdoch shut down his tainted 168-year-old News of the World tabloid in an attempt to halt a tide of public disgust over the hacking furor.
“I cannot express my anger enough that those close to me have unfairly been dragged into this,” Brooks said.
The Associated Press
