LONDON, Feb 21 — Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks told Britain’s phone hacking trial today she did not know that a private investigator, later convicted for intercepting voicemails, was contracted to her newspaper.

The former editor of Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct Sunday tabloid said she knew nothing about Glenn Mulcaire’s contract, but added that it should have been run past her given its size.

Giving evidence for a second day in the trial at England’s Old Bailey central criminal court in London, Brooks talked about the huge behind-the-scenes deals signed with celebrities such as football icon David Beckham for exclusives.

The 45-year-old also appeared close to tears and asked for a break when the subject of having children with her ex-husband was raised.

Mulcaire, a former footballer, worked for News of the World while Brooks was its editor. He was jailed in 2007 for hacking voicemails.

Asked by her defence lawyer Jonathan Laidlaw if she knew anything about Mulcaire’s contract, worth £92,000 (RM504,000) a year, Brooks replied: “No, not at all.”

She said his activities were not drawn to her attention during her editorship of what was Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper, between 2000 and 2003.

She said that her “sign-off level” for payments in 2000 and 2001 was around £50,000, so anything above that should have gone to her and to her managing editor.

Brooks said she had not been made aware of the arrangement that her news editor Greg Miskiw had reached with Mulcaire. Miskiw has pleaded guilty to conspiring to hack phones, the jury has been told.

Brooks gave examples of “expensive” one-off payments for exclusive “buy-ups” with celebrities.

She said former England captain Beckham was paid “about £1 million” for exclusive rights to publish excerpts from his autobiography in the News of the World and its daily sister title The Sun.

The court heard that when Brooks became editor of the News of the World in May 2000, the editorial budget for July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001 was around £23.4 million, with a forecast annual revenue of around £160 million and profit of around £30 million.

“The NotW was very profitable during my editorship but then it was a good time for newspapers back then,” she said.

Brooks is charged with conspiring in voicemail hacking, conspiring to bribe public officials and two counts of trying to cover up her alleged crimes.

She is among seven defendants in the trial, including Andy Coulson, her successor as News of the World editor and one-time lover. All the defendants deny all the charges against them. — AFP