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Rebekah Brooks Trial

309 replies

FrankelInFoal · 21/02/2014 20:27

I'm no fan of Rebekah Brooks but having watched the news reporting from court today I'm finding myself feeling incredibly sorry for her.

Apparently today she was questioned about her fertility issues. I mean what the hell does that have to do with phone hacking? According to the report I watched she was asked about her problems conceiving with Ross Kemp which prompted her to ask for a break in proceedings and she left the room in tears. Later she was questioned about the surrogacy that she and her current husband had gone through to get their daughter.

Seriously, how is that relevant/appropriate?! If she was a man I sincerely doubt she'd have been asked about such a private matter.

OP posts:
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Onesleeptillwembley · 22/02/2014 12:14

Ask the unbelievably brave and dignified Sara Payne, the woman she called 'a close friend' how she feels about having her phone hacked by the evil bitch Brooke's and her minions.
She's not just scum, but treacherous scum. Anything that happens to this woman won't be enough, IMO.

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Onesleeptillwembley · 22/02/2014 12:15

Sorry about the extra apostrophe. Phone decided it should be there.

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ParsingFancy · 22/02/2014 12:22

Alternatively, lighthousekeeper, she uses charm as one of her manipulative tricks.

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Onesleeptillwembley · 22/02/2014 12:24

Well she certainly kept Coulson on side by using it!

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Yes2014 · 22/02/2014 13:03

When's the verdict due?

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Nancy66 · 22/02/2014 13:08

April time

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sashh · 22/02/2014 13:20

Clearly in this case it was BUT the comments that she's had a child through surrogacy after years of fertility battles for convenience stink of misogyny.

No it isn't.

Both parents are facing being away for a few years, who in their right mind thinks that is the right time to have a child?

What kind of parent chooses (and it is a choice in this case, not an accident or a surprise) to have a child just before a court case like this? It is not in the best interests of the child is it?

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limitedperiodonly · 22/02/2014 14:22

What kind of parent chooses (and it is a choice in this case, not an accident or a surprise) to have a child just before a court case like this? It is not in the best interests of the child is it?

Ronnie Biggs did it 30-odd years ago when Scotland Yard were closing in. It was Brazilian law that the parent of a Brazilian child couldn't be extradited until that child was an adult.

Just throwing that one in there...

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AngelaDaviesHair · 22/02/2014 14:28

I don't think RB is uniquely awful, by the standards of tabloid editors. I'd like all of them on trial, esp Piers Morgan, but you can't have everything. Murdoch has been a uniquely awful owner though.

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VivaLeBeaver · 22/02/2014 14:37

When this story first broke years ago I said on MN at the time that I bet PM is in it up to his eyeballs. Can't believe the Notw were doing it and not The Mirror. Interesting he's now been interviewed under caution. He's a slimy one.

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Ubik1 · 22/02/2014 14:38

The media is/was staggeringly arrogant.

They weren't trying to uncover some deep-seated conspiracy, it wasn't Watergate, it was ghoulish focus on crime victims and celeb-driven stories.
Abd yes we get the media we deserve, but these people broke the law and it remains to be seen if Brookes did too.

And the journalist's links to Cameron, Blair, Murdoch, the easy casual access they had to power- it's sobering stuff. I couldn't give a toss about her fertility issues .

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AngelaDaviesHair · 22/02/2014 14:44

I think that for once, the journalists were the conspiracy. Hacking anyone they wanted, from Royals to Cabinet Ministers? Murdoch's political/commercial ambitions? The naked selling of political support etc? This is actually much bigger than phone hacking. It makes me wonder who was actually running the country-was it Blair, or did the buck actually stop with dear old Rupert?

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beluga425 · 22/02/2014 15:32

Remember "it was the Sun wot won it" ???

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SeaSickSal · 22/02/2014 15:51

I never said that I hoped the got off, I said that I hope at least one of them won't go to jail for the child's sake.

Considering the woman had years of failed fertility treatment I doubt that the baby was born purely to keep her out of jail.

I don't like the idea of any child being separated from their parents when they are at a very young vulnerable age and it will be emotionally damaging for them. I think it should only be done in the most extreme circumstances where there is a potential for actual physical danger to other members of society from their parent remaining free.

In Charlie Brookers case at least I can see a fairly good argument that he doesn't pose much of a danger to society in any sense and should be spared jail so that the baby has one parent at least at home.

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SauceForTheGander · 22/02/2014 16:03

She's BFF with Cameron, Blair and Murdoch. It's not beyond imagination that she'll get off is it?

Interesting in that email summarising Tony Blair's hour long conversation with her about how to handle the investigation did she never say "look, I'm innocent, there's nothing to link me to hacking because I didn't know anything"

For a man who charges a squillion pounds a minute TB was very generous with his time.

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VivaLeBeaver · 22/02/2014 16:13

Its the PA/secretary I feel sorry for out of the defendants. As far as they're concerned she was probably just a pleb/lackey. They've used her and now she's in the dock with them.

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Ubik1 · 22/02/2014 16:19

The thing is Seasicksal, poorer women are jailed all the time for far less and the children go into care.

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MiniCracker · 22/02/2014 16:43

I would imagine they have a nanny to whom the child is bonded.

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SauceForTheGander · 22/02/2014 16:49

Viva I think the PA will discover that her loyalty isn't rewarded long term.

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eeetheygrowupsofast · 22/02/2014 16:54

I think the timing of the surrogacy was very interesting indeed.

Feel very very sorry for the child if Brooks goes down. But a) it will be of her own doing and b) it ain't gonna happen!!

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sashh · 22/02/2014 17:10

I don't like the idea of any child being separated from their parents when they are at a very young vulnerable age and it will be emotionally damaging for them. I think it should only be done in the most extreme circumstances where there is a potential for actual physical danger to other members of society from their parent remaining free

You mean like people who don't pay their TV licence?

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Stockhausen · 22/02/2014 17:24

No sympathy from me, it's all part of the charade.

The surrogacy was a stroke of genius, as far as I'm concerned. A blatant stay out of jail trump card.

I've known people get married in the time between arrest & trial, so their spouse is exempt from testifying against them. Likewise, getting pregnant for the sympathy.

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VivaLeBeaver · 22/02/2014 17:27

I think there's a fair chance that she goes to jail but he gets community service, suspended sentence, etc.

God I wish I'd been called for jury service for this one!

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RuddyDuck · 22/02/2014 17:31

I also think the timing of the surrogate pregnancy is fortuitous interesting. I agree that too many women are put in prison, and their dc put in care, when they could serve community sentences. However, I don't feel that RB falls into this category should she be found guilty.

if she is found guilty - and that will be up to the jury, who will hear all the evidence - then she will have been proven to have acted with a blatant disregard for the law and used her position of considerable power to gain illegally obtained information. I for one will see that differently to women who are economically and socially disadvantaged and who break the law in a relatively minor way.

Am awaiting the verdict with interest....

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SeaSickSal · 22/02/2014 18:38

Yes and I also think that poorer primary carers (male or female) shouldn't go to jail unless it's absolutely unavoidable for the safety of others.

Honestly, I don't know how people can be dim enough to read into what I wrote I don't like the idea of any child being separated from their parents when they are at a very young vulnerable age and it will be emotionally damaging for them. I think it should only be done in the most extreme circumstances that I somehow only support this for Rebekah Brooks and not every other child who loses a parent to jail.

And this stuff about the surrogacy being to get out of jail is absolute bollocks.

So a woman is absolutely desperate for a child for years, goes through years of failed fertility treatment which only stops when she splits from her partner. Marries a new partner and says 'Actually despite all the years of trying I've decided I don't want children but I'll have one just to stay out of jail'.

Given her age it was probably her last chance.

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