This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Prime Minister David Cameron’s former communications chief was detained on Wednesday by police on suspicion of perjury after he has denied in court having any knowledge of phone hacking by reporters at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World.
The 44-year-old was detained in London by officers from Strathclyde Police. Coulson provided evidence in Mr. Sheridan’s perjury trial at the High Court in Glasgow in December 2010. The former News of the World editor, hired by Mr. Cameron as his director of communications, told a court in 2010 that he do not have knowledge of illegal voicemail interception when in charge of the tabloid.
During the perjury trial of former Scottish MP Tommy Sheridan, Mr. Coulson has stated: “I don’t accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.” He has also refused of having any information that the newspaper paid corrupt police officers for tip-offs. Mr. Cameron was questioned over his decision to bring Mr. Coulson into the heart of government. He was also arrested last year in relation to Scotland Yard’s long-running investigation into phone-hacking at the News of the World. He was held in July on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications as well as corruption and had his bail extended earlier this month.
The perjury charges carry a maximum prison sentence of seven years, is potentially the most serious facing the former Conservative Party spokesman. A source tells that the arrest came as a “complete surprise”.
Coulson was working as an editor when he published a story that labelled Sheridan an adulterer who visited swingers’ clubs. He was called as a witness and told the court that he do not have any knowledge regarding illegal activities by reporters. Sheridan was jailed for three years in 2010 after being found guilty of perjury during his 2006 defamation action against the NoW. He had successfully sued the newspaper over its claims.
Strathclyde police announced its investigation into Mr. Coulson last July but it was thought to be taking a back seat as five major Scotland Yard inquiries into the Murdoch media empire rumbled on. However, the officers from Scotland recently visited London to interview several former NoW staff about their old boss.
Under Scottish law, a suspect is detained on suspicion of an offence unlike in England and Wales where a suspect is arrested. Mr. Coulson has not been charged and still claiming: “I don’t accept there was a culture of phone hacking at the News of the World.”
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