Coulson’s cleared of perjury... now will he cash in with book?‘
DAVID Cameron’s former spin doctor Andy Coulson was cleared of perjury yesterday, paving the way for him to write a book about his life in Downing Street. Speculation linking Mr Coulson to a lucrative publishing deal intensified after a Scottish judge threw out charges that the 47-year- old lied about his knowledge of phone hacking while a senior executive at the News of the World. The Crown alleged that Mr Coulson misled a court about what he knew about illegal voicemail interception at the now- defunct tabloid while giving evidence in the 2010 trial of former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan. The case against the former
‘Gross waste of public money’
No 10 director of communications, who was previously PR chief for the Tory Party, collapsed after his lawyers argued there was no case to answer.
Judge Lord Burns ruled the Crown had not shown Mr Coulson’s evidence was relevant in the trial of Sheridan, who was accused of perjuring himself during a previous libel case he had brought against the newspaper.
Mr Coulson was jailed for 18 months over phone hacking last summer after a marathon trial which resulted in former Sun and News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks being acquitted. He served less than five months in jail before being released with an electronic tag.
In April, charges that he conspired to pay public officials for information during his time at the News of the World were dropped.
Yesterday’s acquittal means that, with all criminal proceedings out of the way, Mr Coulson – who pleaded not guilty to the perjury charges – is free to write a book about his role at the heart of the Coalition’s trial more than four years ago about his knowledge of phone hacking. Sheridan was accused of perjury at that stage and, while conducting his own defence, called Mr Coulson as a witness. The Scottish politician’s trial was in respect of evidence he gave in a 2006 civil action, a successful defamation case against the News of the World’s publishers. He went on trial for perjury in 2010 and was jailed for three years after being found guilty of lying about the tabloid’s claims that he was an adulterer who visited a swingers’ club. Literary agent Andrew Lownie said publishers would snap up any book by Mr Coulson. He said: ‘He must feel a wronged man in that a lot of people did not stand by him, and maybe it is time for payback.’ Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper division is to escape corporate charges over phone hacking and payments to public officials. Detectives have admitted defeat in their bid to bring a case which would force senior executives to be held to account for the behaviour of more junior staff. Last month it emerged that the Met had spent £37.4 million on investigations into journalism.