The Brooks Arrested!

Yesterday Rebekah Brooks, along with her husband Charlie Brooks and four others were charged with perverting the course of justice. In a statement made yesterday Charlie said his wife had been the “victim of a witch hunt” (I find this hilariously ironic, considering the sheer volume of witch hunts that Rebekah Brooks has started during her time at Murdoch’s company) and Rebekah claiming that the decision to charge her was “unjust and weak”.

So what have they been charged with? Well Rebekah has been charged with three counts of perverting the course of justice. The alleged crimes occurred between the 6^th and the 19^th of July 2011, Brooks and her counterparts are accused of trying to conceal evidence from the police, all of which they strongly deny. Here’s a quick time line of some of the events of that period

4^th of July – The Guardian reveals that NOTW hacked Milly Dowler’s phone

5^th of July – It is revealed that Madeleine McCann’s parents, 7/7 victims’ families were also hacked

6^th of July – Cameron promised to open an enquiry (Now Leveson)

7^th of July – NOTW closes

8^th of July – Andy Coulson Arrested

15^th of July – Rebekah Brooks resigned as CEO of News International

17^th of July – Brooks arrested and released on police bail

19^th of July – Brooks appeared in front of a Commons Select Committee

The second charge relates to Rebekah Brooks and her PA, Cheryl Carter, who are accused of removing, permanently, seven boxes of material from News International between the 6^th and the 9^th of July 2011. The final charge relates to the final four days of the period (15^th – 19^th of July), they are all charged of trying to conceal documents, computers and other electronic equipment from the Metropolitan Police.

Although these are only charges, and the suspects are presumed innocent until proven otherwise, it’s still extremely embarrassing for the government. David Cameron once socialised with people who are being charged with a very serious crime.

Rebekah and Charlie Brooks making a statement yesterday