Coulson 'knew what went on' at NoW

29 January 2014 Last updated at 16:21

Phone-hacking trial: Andy Coulson 'knew what went on' at NoW

Andy Coulson denies phone-hacking charges

Ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who is accused of conspiring to hack phones, knew "exactly what went on on his watch", a former reporter has told the Old Bailey.

Dan Evans, who has admitted phone hacking, said his activities were "completely understood" by superiors.

He said "even the office cat knew" about phone hacking at the paper.

Mr Coulson denies conspiracy to hack phones and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

In clashes with Timothy Langdale QC, for Mr Coulson, Evans said one of his superiors - who had extensive knowledge of his phone hacking - would maintain a pretence in editorial conferences that nothing was going on.

But there were no other efforts to conceal the activity, Evans added.

'Leaky place'

"It was lip service only," he said.

"It was an illegal activity.

Dan Evans said involvement in hacking drove him to drink and drugs

"I did not necessarily want it to be an open secret but that is the way it became, a newspaper is a leaky place."

He said that, at his desk in the newspaper's office, he would "drop my head and do it [hack a phone] there and then".

He added: "For a period of time, there would be three or four phones sitting on my desk [for the purpose of hacking]."

He said: "The truth is that Andy Coulson knows exactly what went on on his watch"

Evans told the court how the depth of his involvement in phone hacking drove him to drink and drugs.

"There [was] a lot of duress," he said.

"I had to get the stories to keep my head above water - it is difficult to understand the pressure people come under in newspaper land."

He said he took cocaine because he was "self-medicating" to deal with the stress of illegal activity, unhappiness and a "never-ending stream of grief".

'Sticky keys'

Evans earlier told the court he was "just toeing the line" when he initially lied to police after he was caught trying to hack into designer Kelly Hoppen's phone.

The jury heard he "bitterly regretted not taking a braver course of action".

The jury has heard Dan Evans found evidence actress Sienna Miller was having an affair with Daniel Craig while she was with Jude Law

Evans was arrested in August 2011 and produced a prepared statement for police.

He told the Old Bailey that statement was "cobblers" and he had just been "maintaining the lie", claiming "the sticky keys defence" - that Ms Hoppen's phone may have been hacked accidentally because Evans had damaged keys on his mobile phone.

However, Evans later changed his story, admitted phone hacking and became a witness for the prosecution.

'Truthful evidence'

Mr Langdale said: "Boiling it down to essentials you wouldn't really be a candidate for immunity unless you spoke about others [phone hacking]."

Evans agreed.

The reporter was also challenged over his claim during evidence on Tuesday that Mr Coulson exclaimed "Brilliant!" when he heard a tape of actress Sienna Miller's voicemail message to Bond star Daniel Craig.

Mr Evans told the court that Ms Miller had left a message for Mr Craig saying she loved him and that she was out with her then-boyfriend, Jude Law.

Sienna Miller will give evidence on Friday via video-link from the US

"It is truthful evidence," Evans said "The general context of the exact word, brilliant, I was paraphrasing. I think the word came out of my mouth as... trying to explain the general sense of how happy he was.

Mr Langdale said: "Do you accept... you did not say the word brilliant in your police statements?"

"Yes," replied the former reporter.

Mr Langdale also suggested to Evans the allegation that Mr Coulson knew about the voicemail was "not true".

"I did not see you there at the time. It is true," Evans replied.

CPS agreement

The jury has heard that Evans pleaded guilty to hacking at the Sunday Mirror between 2003 and 2005 and at the News of the World up to 2010. He also pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 2005 and 2010.

Evans also confirmed he had admitted intending to pervert the course of justice.

The court heard he entered into an agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service in 2012 and had given two statements since.

Mr Coulson, 46, is one of seven people who deny charges related to phone hacking.

He also denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

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