Andy Coulson: Former News of the World editor cleared of perjury charges at Edinburgh court

Coulson had been on trial for around two weeks at the High Court in Edinburgh

Former government Director of Communications and News of The World editor Andy Coulson (Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)

Andy Coulson has been acquitted of perjury charges after the case against him at the High Court in Edinburgh collapsed.

The former News of the World editor was cleared of perjury at the 2010 trial of former socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan after Judge Lord Burns ruled the 47-year-old had no case to answer.

Coulson, 47, had been on trial for around two weeks. The charge against him alleged that he lied when he told Sheridan's trial that he had not known about phone hacking at the News of the World until the arrest in 2006 of the now-defunct tabloid's royal editor, Clive Goodman.

Judge Lord Burns upheld a defence motion that Coulson - a former director of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron - had no case to answer.

Delivering his ruling, Lord Burns said he had "sustained the arguments in favour of the accused".

He gave his decision on Monday 1 June following two days of legal submissions from Coulson's defence QC, but it could not be reported until 3 June as the Crown was given time to decide whether to appeal against the ruling.

The decision comes more than three years after Coulson was first charged.

PA