Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson phone hacking trial delayed

The trial of Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s News International, and seven other defendants including Andy Coulson, David Cameron’s former communications chief in Downing Street, has been pushed back by two months.

The high-profile court case examining allegations of phone hacking, conspiracy to pay public officials, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, had been due to begin at the Old Bailey on 9 September.

At a special hearing before Mr Justice Saunders in the Central Criminal Court, the trial date was rescheduled for 28 October. The postponement was for “legal reasons”.

Mrs Brooks, 45, and Mr Coulson, 45, along with all the others, deny the charges against them.

Mr Coulson, along with the former royal editor of the now-closed News of the World, Clive Goodman, is also accused of two charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. Both men deny the charges.