Brooks faces hacking-charge court (From Times Series)

Brooks faces hacking-charge court

4:28am Wednesday 13th June 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive, is due to appear in court for the first time to face charges linked to the phone hacking scandal.

The 44-year-old ex-News of the World and Sun editor faces three charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, including that she removed boxes of material from the News International archive and tried to conceal documents, computers and other material from the multimillion-pound Scotland Yard inquiry.

The charges, made last month, were the first to be brought by the investigation into phone-hacking, computer hacking and corruption.

Brooks, of Churchill, Oxfordshire, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London alongside her racehorse trainer husband Charlie.

He faces a single charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice with his wife. Cheryl Carter, Mrs Brooks' personal assistant; Mark Hanna, head of security at News International; Paul Edwards, Mrs Brooks' chauffeur; and security consultant Daryl Jorsling also each face a single charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The court said all were due to appear before magistrates on Wednesday.

Brooks became editor of the News of the World in 2000 at the age of 31. In 2003 she became the first woman to edit the Sun and in 2009 became News International chief executive. She resigned from that post in July last year.