Rebekah Brooks arrives at The Old Bailey law court in London, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. Former News of the World national newspaper editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson went on trial Monday, along with several others, on charges relating to the hacking of phones and bribing officials while at the now closed tabloid paper. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON (AP) — A British prosecutor says Rupert Murdoch aide Rebekah Brooks hid her notebooks, a computer and other evidence because she believed she was about to be arrested by police investigating phone hacking by the News of the World.
Andrew Edis said a “media firestorm” was engulfing the newspaper in July 2011, with Brooks — chief executive of Murdoch’s British press operation — at its center.
Edis said Monday that there was an “extremely anxious, if not panic-stricken” atmosphere at Murdoch’s London offices, as rivals reported allegations of widespread illegal eavesdropping and police increased their inquiries.
Brooks denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice by hiding material from police, as well as phone hacking and bribery charges.
She is on trial along with seven others in Britain’s tabloid phone-hacking trial.
