Rebekah Brooks, former News International chief executive, leaves the Central Criminal Court in London, June 24, 2014.
London:
Here are key developments in the phone hacking scandal involving segments of Britain's tabloid press:
November 2005: The News of the World reports that Prince William has a knee injury. A Buckingham Palace complaint prompts a police inquiry that reveals information came from a voicemail that was hacked. (Britain's David Cameron Sorry for Employing Andy Coulson)
August 2006: News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire arrested over the royal phone hacking.
January 2007: Goodman sentenced to four months in prison and Mulcaire to six months for hacking the phones of royal aides. News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigns but denies knowing about the practice. In May he is hired as communications chief to Conservative Party leader David Cameron. ('No Smoking Gun' in UK Hacking Case Against Rebekah Brooks, Court Told)
2011
January 14: Police reopen phone-hacking investigation after News of the World says it has found "significant new information."
January 21: Coulson resigns from Cameron's office.
April 8: News of the World admits responsibility for phone hacking.
May 13: Actress Sienna Miller's lawyer says News of the World settled her lawsuit for 100,000 pounds. Scores more settlements eventually follow, at a cost of millions to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (Rebekah Brooks lays bare 'car-crash' private life)
July 4: The Guardian newspaper says News of the World journalists hacked into voicemails left for murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler while police were searching for her in 2002.
July 7: Amid public outrage over the Dowler revelations, Murdoch announces that week's News of the World will be the last.
July 8: Coulson arrested.
July 13: Cameron appoints Lord Justice Brian Leveson to lead inquiry into phone hacking and the culture and practices of British newspapers. News Corp. drops bid to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting. (British newspaper hacked phones of Prince William's wife Kate and Prince Harry)
July 15: Rebekah Brooks, chief of News International and former editor of the News of the World and The Sun, resigns.
July 17: Brooks arrested.
July 19: Rupert Murdoch appears at a parliamentary hearing, calling it "the most humble day of my life." He and son James deny responsibility for wrongdoing.
Oct. 21: Rupert Murdoch faces disgruntled investors at the company's annual meeting. More than a third vote against re-electing Murdoch's sons James and Lachlan to the board of directors. (Rebekah Brooks said 'easy' to hack phones: witness)
Nov. 14: Leveson opens inquiry.
2012
February 29: James Murdoch steps down as executive chairman of News International.
April 3: James Murdoch steps down as BSkyB chairman, remains on board.
May 15: Brooks, her husband and others are charged over alleged attempts to conceal evidence.
June 28: News Corp. announces plan to split into two companies, one for newspapers and another for entertainment operations.
July 24: Coulson, Brooks and others charged with conspiring to hack phones.
Oct. 23: Four people claiming phone hacking file suit against publisher of the Daily Mirror; first lawsuits to hit newspaper outside Murdoch's empire. Several former staff of the Daily Mirror or Sunday Mirror are subsequently arrested.
November 20: Brooks and Coulson charged with conspiring to pay public officials in exchange for stories and information.
November 29: Leveson publishes final report, accusing some sections of the press of "recklessness in prioritizing sensational stories almost irrespective of the harm the stories may cause."
2013:
May 8: News Corp. says it has spent $388 million in settlements, legal fees and other costs associated with ongoing investigations in Britain since the hacking scandal erupted in 2011.
Oct. 28: Trial of Brooks, Coulson and others opens at London's Central Criminal Court. Jury is sworn in the next day; judge John Saunders tells them: "British justice is on trial."
Oct. 31: Prosecutor Andrew Edis discloses the first of the trial's electrifying revelations, telling the jury that Brooks and Coulson had an affair lasting several years. "What Mr. Coulson knew, Mrs. Brooks knew too, and what Mrs. Brooks knew, Mr. Coulson knew too," he says.
2014:
June 11: After 130 days of hearings, the jury retires to consider its verdicts.
June 24: Coulson convicted of phone hacking; Brooks acquitted.
November 2005: The News of the World reports that Prince William has a knee injury. A Buckingham Palace complaint prompts a police inquiry that reveals information came from a voicemail that was hacked. (Britain's David Cameron Sorry for Employing Andy Coulson)
August 2006: News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire arrested over the royal phone hacking.
January 2007: Goodman sentenced to four months in prison and Mulcaire to six months for hacking the phones of royal aides. News of the World editor Andy Coulson resigns but denies knowing about the practice. In May he is hired as communications chief to Conservative Party leader David Cameron. ('No Smoking Gun' in UK Hacking Case Against Rebekah Brooks, Court Told)
2011
January 14: Police reopen phone-hacking investigation after News of the World says it has found "significant new information."
January 21: Coulson resigns from Cameron's office.
April 8: News of the World admits responsibility for phone hacking.
May 13: Actress Sienna Miller's lawyer says News of the World settled her lawsuit for 100,000 pounds. Scores more settlements eventually follow, at a cost of millions to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (Rebekah Brooks lays bare 'car-crash' private life)
July 4: The Guardian newspaper says News of the World journalists hacked into voicemails left for murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler while police were searching for her in 2002.
July 7: Amid public outrage over the Dowler revelations, Murdoch announces that week's News of the World will be the last.
July 8: Coulson arrested.
July 13: Cameron appoints Lord Justice Brian Leveson to lead inquiry into phone hacking and the culture and practices of British newspapers. News Corp. drops bid to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting. (British newspaper hacked phones of Prince William's wife Kate and Prince Harry)
July 15: Rebekah Brooks, chief of News International and former editor of the News of the World and The Sun, resigns.
July 17: Brooks arrested.
July 19: Rupert Murdoch appears at a parliamentary hearing, calling it "the most humble day of my life." He and son James deny responsibility for wrongdoing.
Oct. 21: Rupert Murdoch faces disgruntled investors at the company's annual meeting. More than a third vote against re-electing Murdoch's sons James and Lachlan to the board of directors. (Rebekah Brooks said 'easy' to hack phones: witness)
Nov. 14: Leveson opens inquiry.
2012
February 29: James Murdoch steps down as executive chairman of News International.
April 3: James Murdoch steps down as BSkyB chairman, remains on board.
May 15: Brooks, her husband and others are charged over alleged attempts to conceal evidence.
June 28: News Corp. announces plan to split into two companies, one for newspapers and another for entertainment operations.
July 24: Coulson, Brooks and others charged with conspiring to hack phones.
Oct. 23: Four people claiming phone hacking file suit against publisher of the Daily Mirror; first lawsuits to hit newspaper outside Murdoch's empire. Several former staff of the Daily Mirror or Sunday Mirror are subsequently arrested.
November 20: Brooks and Coulson charged with conspiring to pay public officials in exchange for stories and information.
November 29: Leveson publishes final report, accusing some sections of the press of "recklessness in prioritizing sensational stories almost irrespective of the harm the stories may cause."
2013:
May 8: News Corp. says it has spent $388 million in settlements, legal fees and other costs associated with ongoing investigations in Britain since the hacking scandal erupted in 2011.
Oct. 28: Trial of Brooks, Coulson and others opens at London's Central Criminal Court. Jury is sworn in the next day; judge John Saunders tells them: "British justice is on trial."
Oct. 31: Prosecutor Andrew Edis discloses the first of the trial's electrifying revelations, telling the jury that Brooks and Coulson had an affair lasting several years. "What Mr. Coulson knew, Mrs. Brooks knew too, and what Mrs. Brooks knew, Mr. Coulson knew too," he says.
2014:
June 11: After 130 days of hearings, the jury retires to consider its verdicts.
June 24: Coulson convicted of phone hacking; Brooks acquitted.
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