UK prosecutors say ex-News of The World editor and husband to face charges over phone hacking

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, May 15, 5:19 AM

LONDON — Ex-News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband and four others were charged Tuesday over alleged attempts to conceal evidence of Britain’s tabloid phone hacking scandal, prosecutors said.

The criminal charges are the first to be filed since police launched a new inquiry into phone hacking in Jan. 2011. Previously, two people were jailed in 2007 for hacking the phones of members of the royal household.

The 43-year-old Brooks, who quit as News International chief executive in July, faces three separate allegations of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice — an offense which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Alison Levitt, the principal legal advisor to Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions, said that Brooks is alleged to have concealed material from police — including computers and other electronic devices — and is accused of removing seven boxes of material from News International archives.

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