Phone hacking: who are the charged News of the World staffers?

Andy Coulson, former editor

Essex-born Coulson, 44, was considered one of the most successful editors of the now-defunct tabloid. He began his journalism career at 18 as a cub reporter at the Basildon Evening Echo but was quickly propelled to Fleet Street where he worked for the Daily Mail before moving to the Sun and then later the News of the World as deputy editor, then later editor. He succeeded Rebekah Brooks his flame-haired mentor, and close friend, in 2003 and presided over the paper until 2007. He boasted to the Society of Editors conference in 2004 that he had the youngest, most dynamic staff in Fleet Street. But he quit in January of that year, the day convictions of the paper's royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire came through, saying he took "ultimate responsibility" for the scandal but claimed he was unaware the hacking was taking place. He was later hired by David Cameron as the Conservative Party's director of communication and for nearly four years he and the man who would become Prime Minister worked side-by-side, as they plotted the long march to Downing Street. He was later forced to step down as the No 10 director of communications amid the mounting hacking scandal. He has already been charged with perjury by Strathclyde Police in connection with evidence he gave under oath at the trial of former Member of the Scottish Parliament, Tommy Sheridan.

_{Andy Coulson, the former Downing Street director of communications, pictured for the only time with David Cameron, the Prime Minister. (Picture: REX FEATURES)}

Rebekah Brooks, former editor

The former chief executive of News International, has been one of the key figures in the phone hacking scandal after rising to power in Rupert Murdoch's media empire. Formerly Rebekah Wade, she was the editor of two of Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, the News of the World and then the Sun, before taking on executive roles in the tabloids' publisher News International. The 44 year-old became the NI chief executive but resigned at the height of the hacking scandal. She began working for NI when she joined the NoTW as a secretary in 1989, working her way up through its Sunday magazine. In 2000, she was appointed editor at the age of just 32, becoming the youngest editor of a national newspaper in the UK at the time. During her time at the newspaper, she campaigned to expose alleged paedophiles and supported Sarah's Law to allow the public access to the Sex Offenders Register following the murder of Sarah Payne by paedophile Roy Whiting. She is reported to be one of the best connected people in media and is a member of the so-called Chipping Norton set along with David and Samantha Cameron, Jeremy Clarkson, Elisabeth Murdoch and her PR executive husband Matthew Freud. Earlier this year, she told the Leveson Inquiry the Prime Minister would sometimes sign his text messages with “LOL”, believing it to mean “lots of love”. Following a relationship with actor Ross Kemp, she is now married to racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks. The pair, who live in Oxfordshire, have already been charged with perverting the course of justice following allegations that they tried to destroy evidence related to the inquiry. The pair became parents after their first child – a daughter named Scarlett Anne Mary Brooks – was born via a surrogate.

• Coulson charged with hacking Dowler's phone

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• Full list of charges

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• Crown Prosecution Service statement in full

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• Phone hacking: timeline of the scandal

  23 Jul 2012

_{Charlie and Rebekah Brooks (Picture: EDDIE MULHOLLAND)}

Ian Edmondson, former head of news and assistant editor

Mr Edmondson, 43, was considered one of the newspaper's most trusted executives who was behind a string of scoops during his time as head of the newsdesk. Former employees say he was one of the "inner circle" of Mr Coulson. He was hired by Neil Wallis, then Mr Coulson's deputy editor in November 2004 as a second most senior news executive from his previous employer, Trinity Mirror's the Sunday People, where he rose to become news editor. He had been a reporter at the NoTW for five years, first as a general news reporter and crime correspondent for 18 months, before he jumped ship to the rival tabloid as a more senior journalist in early 2000. Back at the now-defunct tabloid he was quickly promoted assistant editor (news) in October 2005. He was suspended by the newspaper shortly before Christmas 2010 amid allegations that he was involved in attempts to hack into mobile phones. He started as a freelance journalist. A keen runner and a boxing fanatic, he has taken part in at least one "white-collar" boxing bout and idolised boxers. When he appeared before the Leveson inquiry, he said there was a culture of bullying at the newspaper and said he has lodged an employment tribunal claim against News International. In May he was announced as the new editor of lads' magazine Loaded where he said he wanted to take it back to its "glory days".

_{News of the World chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck (left) and ex-news editor Ian Edmondson (Picture: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY)}

Neville Thurlbeck, former chief reporter

The 51 year-old was the most senior reporter on the newspaper and won a string of awards for his scoops during his 25 years on Fleet Street, most of which was spent at the NoTW as chief reporter and news editor. Among his scoops included an investigation into Lord Jeffrey Archer, the disgraced peer and bestselling author, which led to him being jailed for perjury and claims that David Beckham had engaged in secret extramarital affairs. He also wrote about the sexual life of Max Mosley, the former Formula 1 chief. He was one of the first journalists arrested following the launch of Operation Weeting, the Scotland Yard investigation into phone hacking. Mr Thurlbeck has claimed he is innocent of any such allegations and says that he warned senior executives at the News of the World that hacking was widespread in 2009, but his protests were ignored.

_{The entrance to News International's HQ in Wapping, London (Picture: HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY)}

Stuart Kuttner, former managing editor

The 72 year-old was the public face of the tabloid and its most vocal public defender for 22 years. One of the most senior executives on the paper, he was charged with the finances of the newspaper. He was often put in front of television cameras and behind radio microphones to defend the tabloid against claims of malpractice or inappropriate behaviour. He once claimed the newspaper was a "watchdog" against corruption. Mr Kuttner left his position at the now-defunct tabloid in 2009, a day before it emerged that News International had paid more than £1 million in settlements to phone-hacking victims. When he resigned, the last editor of the newspaper, Colin Myler, paid tribute to a man whose "DNA is absolutely integrated into the newspaper which he has represented across the media with vigour". He was heavily involved in many "special projects" including the paper's Sarah's Law campaign, for which he received a British Press Award in 2002. His profile increased in the early noughties as editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson became more and more reluctant to speak to the media. When the campaign caused public hysteria throughout Britain, Mr Kuttner faced the cameras. He also played a role in the newspaper paper's dealing with Sara Payne in the years after her eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, was abducted and murdered in July 2000. Prior to his appointment as managing editor Mr Kuttner was deputy editor of the News of the World and before that a news editor at the London Evening Standard.

_{(From left) James Weatherup, Stuart Kuttner and Greg Miskiw (Pictures: GEOFF PUGH/ JANE MINGAY)}

Greg Miskiw, former news executive

The 62 year-old was assistant editor to Andy Coulson. He left Britain for the US and was living under his real first name of Ihor in a small flat within a four-apartment building in Delray Beach, a city of 60,000 people on the east coast of Florida. He was believed to have been working for The Globe, a tabloid magazine in nearby Boca Raton. He recently incorporated his own media agency, News Team LLC, which he registered to his home. He told The Daily Telegraph outside his home in Florida that his solicitors had been talking to officers from the Metropolitan Police “for some time”. He once said of the NotW’s activities: “That is what we do – we go out and destroy other people’s lives." Terenia Taras, a 40-year-old freelance journalist and ex-girlfriend of Mr Miskiw, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. She was questioned and later released. She is understood to not be facing any charges.

James Weatherup, former senior reporter and news executive

The 56 year-old was one of the most senior reporters on the NoTW and a former news editor. He was another executive who was once described as at the heart of Mr Coulson's team on the tabloid. He worked on national British newspapers for a quarter of a century and secured a longlist of exclusive stories and front page bylines. According to his LinkedIn webpage, he has held posts including reporter, chief reporter, deputy news editor and news editor of The People, the Sunday Mirror and News of the World newspapers. He added: "As well as breaking exclusive stories, managing huge budgets, I also advised stars on PR and media-related matters." He served under seven editors during more than 20 years in two stints at the News of the World. He had left the paper in 1999 after more than a decade, before switching to the tabloid rival Sunday People and then the Sunday Mirror in senior editorial roles. Weatherup returned to the News of the World after being appointed news editor in early 2004. He then returned to the road. Despite his age, he was said to have maintained a healthy enthusiasm for reporting and was involved in key stories under the current editorship of the final editor Colin Myler. Colleagues described him as the "archetypal, tough tabloid reporter" and an "operator". He also co-wrote "Inside 25 Cromwell Street" about mass killers Fred and Rose West and assisted with the publication of "The History of Romford Golf Club".

_{Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator was jailed in 2007 for voicemail interception (Picture: EDDIE MULHOLLAND)}

Glenn Mulcaire

The 42 year-old was a private investigator who worked for the News of the World. The former professional footballer was jailed for six months in 2007 along with Clive Goodman, the Sunday newspaper's royal editor, for intercepting messages on royal aides' phones. Paid more than £100,000 a year while working for the News of the World, is alleged to have accessed voicemails on behalf of the tabloid in order to gain stories on celebrities. He was the investigator responsible for gaining access to the voicemails in order to feed the newspaper's news list. he has been involved in several legal actions and was at the centre of a row after it emerged that News International was paying his legal fees. The former striker at AFC Wimbledon, he was ordered by Britain's highest court, the Supreme Court, to disclose who gave him his orders.