Case Study - HMA v. Coulson

The former editor of the News of the World and director of communications to Prime Minister David Cameron was charged with perjury, arising out of evidence given in a trial at Glasgow High Court.  The proceedings were closely connected to the ‘phone hacking’ trial at the Old Bailey in London.

A dedicated team was assembled to deal with the Scottish case, led by Gerard Brown and Stuart Munro.  The work included liaising with the client’s English advisers, ingathering an analysing complex evidence, securing access to certain disclosed materials through an application direct to the English court under the relevant disclosure legislation, media monitoring and making detailed representations to the prosecution authorities.  Following the Scottish indictment being served, a series of preliminary minutes were lodged with the court.  The team assisted counsel in preparing submissions and evidential materials (which were presented using the latest technology).  Regular consultations took place in London and elsewhere.

A range of legal issues were argued at a preliminary stage, including relevance and materiality.  At the conclusion of the Crown case, the court upheld a no case to answer submission on largely the same basis as intimated at the preliminary stage.  The case attracted a huge level of media interest.  Following his acquittal, Mr Coulson was keen to thank his lawyers for the work done to bring the case to a successful conclusion.

The case involved a large number of novel and complex points. There was a need for media monitoring, representations to the Crown about inappropriate reporting, and submissions about the need for orders under the Contempt of Court Act. Legal issues including the use of business document certification, legal professional privilege, Parliamentary privilege, use of emails as secondary hearsay, and relevance and materiality were all the subject of detailed argument (and, in some cases, appeal).