'Rebekah Brooks asked for office to be swept for bugs'

Rebekah Brooks, the ex-chief executive of media baron Rupert Murdoch's News International had asked for her office to be "discreetly" swept for bugs, the phone-hacking trial was told today.
In January 2011, months before the closure of the News of the World and her resignation as chief executive of News International, Brooks emailed a request copying in former head of security and co-defendant Mark Hanna.
It read: "Can you have my office swept... Thanks. Discreetly."
News International offices were routinely searched for listening devices to ensure rival journalists could not find out about scoops and to keep private any discussions about Murdoch's bid for the British satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephone services company BSkyB, Jane Viner, NI group director for property and facilities, said.

In 2011, News Corp was trying to increase its shareholding in BSkyB, I think with the objective of becoming the majority shareholder.
William Clegg, counsel for Hanna, said there were a number of reasons to sweep the office for bugs. "One obviously was newspaper are very competitive with each other, and some journalists may be anxious to try to steal a scoop from a rival.

"One of the reasons for the sweeps was to avoid that possibility.
"It was a sensitive topic at News Corp, and another reason why you would want to be sure discussions about such a matter were not broadcast to people who were potential competitors."

Brooks, 45, also editor of 'The Sun' denies hacking. She and Hanna both deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Viner also said Brooks had been sent "threatening" post as the hacking allegations emerged.
Most were intercepted in the post room, and the rest were usually spotted by personal assistants, she added.
During 2011, security around the company's bosses was stepped up and Brooks was given the codename Blackhawk, the court heard.
All seven defendants in the case, including Brooks' husband Charles Brooks, Cheryl Carter, Stuart Kuttner, Clive Goodman and Andy Coulson, deny all the charges.
The phone-hacking scandal is a controversy involving the now defunct News of the World and other British newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of the then-News Corporation. Employees of the paper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of publishing scoops.