Andy Coulson arrested!

[NicholasTeakozy]

On suspicion of perjury apparently. From the BBC

[ThePathanKhansWitch]

Wowzer! Didn't see that coming tbh. He's very cool and collected slimey shite, he'll have had best legal advice going. Will be interested to see how this plays out though.

[Nyac]

Fantastic.

Next stop James and Rupert Murdoch.

[Pan]

Very proud of Scottish system. Like the fact it took 7 officers from Strathclyde to arrest him. One to cuff him, and 6 for well-earned gloating and schadenfreude reasons.

[MrsGuyOfGisbourne]

Pan

[Ponders]

coo, this thread title stopped me in my tracks!

[Ponders]

'During heated exchanges with Sheridan, who represented himself at the trial, Mr Coulson denied being involved in, or aware of any illegal activities, including phone hacking.
At the time of his two-day appearance, he was employed as Prime Minister David Cameron's director of communications.'

& of course at that time he thought it was perfectly safe to lie, because NI were still immune

[Ponders]

unfortunately the Sheridan case didn't involve any Murdochs directly, did it?

[Pan]

Seriously, Glaswegian and other Scottish jurisdiction folks don't live in the pockets of the Met police on a day-to-day basis, or piss in the same pot as members of the screwed-up London 'Village'.

I imagine much less "but you cant arrest Tarquin! We play polo together! All of this public accountability talk is just too horrid" sort of thing happens along the banks of the Clyde than the Thames...

[DogEared]

[BlackOutTheSun]

ponders it involved the news of the world

[Ponders]

Coulson gave evidence under oath, Blackout - that's why he's been arrested. They can't also get the Murdochs for that.

[QueenEdith]

Arrested does not mean charged, let alone tried and convicted.

There are several others who have been arrested and bailed, and (despite what's coming out in Leveson) still so much that is not public.

[BlackOutTheSun]

I thought it had something to do with this...

In 2006 in the case of Sheridan v News International he won an action for defamation against the News of the World and was awarded £200,000 damages. The following year, he was charged with perjury, for having told lies to the court in the defamation case.[1] In the following weeks, six of his relations and colleagues were also charged. In October 2010, he appeared together with his wife Gail at a trial for perjury. While the charges against his wife were withdrawn, on 23 December 2010, Sheridan was convicted of perjury, and on 26 January he was sentenced to three years imprisonment.[2] In the light of the News of the World phone hacking affair, the Crown Office has been ordered to reassess the case.[3] He was released from prison on 30 January 2012, one year into his sentence.[4]

Or am I getting confused?

[BlackOutTheSun]

Sorry Ponders Its me that is getting myself confused

[Ponders]

Blackout, it is wildly confusing - Coulson testified in the Sheridan perjury trial & is now being accused of having committed perjury himself

Sheridan may still get the £200K damages

[BlackOutTheSun]

better then Tv, this is!

I'm just waiting for something to bring Cameron down, anything to wipe that smug look of his face!

[Ponders]

oh me too

[EldritchCleavage]

As my mother has just pointed out, how interesting that it didn't leak that Coulson was about to be arrested. Strathclyde obviously run a tighter ship than the Met...

[MarySA]

What a good move taking him up to Glasgow away from all his pals in the Met.

[suzikettles]

Just because Coulson lied (has it been proved he knew about the phone hacking? I mean, I know he knew, but has it been actually proved?) doesn't mean our orange skinned friend is innocent...

[QueenEdith]

Yes, I've just read the article properly.

It's Sheridan (not Leveson stuff). My apologies for jumping to wrong conclusions earlier.

[EldritchCleavage]

Agree, Suzi. Sheridan, representing himself, put a load of questions to Coulson about 'phone hacking which I thought at the time sounded pretty peripheral. So even if the answers were shown to be dishonest, the Sheridan conviction might still stand.

[Ponders]

suzi, there was testimony during the Sheridan trial that he knew - eg he had told \link{http://politicalscrapbook.net/2012/05/andy-coulson-perjury-arrest-sheridan-trial/\reporter Sean Hoare to "use the dark arts" to get information}

'The former NoW journalist publicly admitted his part in phone hacking. He told the New York Times the practice of phone hacking was far more extensive than the newspaper acknowledged when police first investigated the case. He also told the BBC's Panorama it was "endemic" at the paper. Sean Hoare also said Andy Coulson, as editor, had asked him to hack phones.' from \link{http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12296392\BBC table of parties involved}

\link{http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14194623\But he's dead so can't testify}

[BlackOutTheSun]

I do wonder how the questioning is going.

'I don't recall....'
'I don't remember...'

[Ponders]

he's trying to get away with looking like a totally incompetent idiot, isn't he? as you can't go to prison for that...

but as he clearly isn't a totally incompetent idiot I doubt that line will work in the end