Seven former staffers of News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit News International briefly appeared in a court this week to face phone hacking charges. They were the first people to appear in court on actual phone hacking charges since the scandal reignited last summer and led to the shutdown of the News of the World tabloid. They included Andy Coulson, a former editor of the tabloid who later also was prime minister David Cameron's communications director, and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire who has been another key figure in the hacking scandal.
Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor and former communications director for British Prime Minister David Cameron, has been moved from a high-security prison to another U.K. prison.
The move from Belmarsh Prison in southeast London to a so-called open prison came on Tuesday, about nine weeks after Coulson was convicted in the phone-hacking trial of being part of a hacking conspiracy, The Guardian reported.
The paper said Coulson was considered a low risk to society, which allowed for the transfer. It didn’t provide details on the new institution to which he was moved.
Coulson, 46, shared a cell with two other prisoners at the high-security prison and was locked up for 22-24 hours per day, according to media reports.
The former top executive at the U.K. newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp was in July sentenced to 18 months in prison after a jury found him guilty.
The jury cleared several others, led by former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, of all charges.
Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
