British journalists to be charged over phone hacking

London, July 24 (IANS) Eight people, including newspaper journalists, will be charged over phone hacking in Britain, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Rebekah Brooks, an ex-newspaper editor, will face two charges - one relating to the alleged accessing of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone messages.

The others facing charges include private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, and a series of former staff members from the News of the World (NOTW), the Mail said.

These are ex-managing editor Stuart Kuttner, ex-news editor Greg Miskiw, ex-news head Ian Edmondson, ex-chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and former reporter James Weatherup.

The announcement was made Tuesday by the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) legal adviser Alison Levitt QC, who said the journalists will be officially charged.

They faces 19 alleged offences.

David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson is also accused in relation to allegedly hacking into Milly's phone, according to the newspaper.

Levitt said that 13 files were passed to the CPS by the police and she had decided that there was a "realistic prospect of conviction" in relation to eight of them.

All of them apart from Mulcaire will be charged with conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority between Oct 3, 2000 and Aug 9, 2006.

The NOTW, then owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International, was shut down last after the scandal. It was one of the world's biggest selling English language newspapers.