Rebekah Brooks was cleared of any wrongdoing in the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World when she was found not guilty yesterday of involvement in three alleged criminal conspiracies.
Mrs Brooks, 46, the former chief executive of News International, walked free from the Old Bailey after a jury unanimously absolved her of any involvement in phone hacking and rejected the notion that she was a key architect of an era of journalistic intrusion.
Her acquittal, alongside four co-defendants including her husband, Charlie, will raise questions about the handling of the scandal.
Andy Coulson, her former deputy and one-time lover, was found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones, placing fresh pressure on the prime minister over his decision to