LONDON, Aug 6 ― Andy Coulson, the former News of the World tabloid editor and one-time spin doctor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, was formally charged today over evidence given in a 2010 trial.
Coulson will face three charges of lying under oath over evidence given in the perjury trial of Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan, which is related to a story printed in the paper.
It reported that the former Scottish Socialist Party leader was an adulterer who visited a swingers' club.
Sheridan won a 2006 defamation action against the weekly and was awarded £200,000 (RM1.08 million), but in 2010 he was charged with lying on oath in relation to the case.
The politician was found guilty and jailed for three years in January 2011 before being released a year later.
Papers filed to Glasgow High Court today allege that Coulson, 46, lied under oath about his knowledge of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and how much he knew of a “culture” of voicemail interception at the tabloid.
He is also accused of lying about his knowledge of payments allegedly made to police officers while at the paper.
Coulson had claimed not to know Mulcaire, who was imprisoned in 2007 over charges of phone hacking when Coulson was editor of News of the World.
It is now claimed that Coulson knew of instances of voicemail interception involving murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and James Bond actor Daniel Craig, and that he knew that payments of about £2,750 had been made by journalists to corrupt police officers.
Coulson was not in court for the preliminary hearing and no pleas were entered.
A further hearing was set for October, although any trial would not take place before January next year, the court heard. ― AFP
