[51] He was questioned under caution, and later that day released on police bail until October, but made no comment on his release. In David Cameron: The Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government Andy Coulson, Cameron's communications chief, had already left that post in January of the same year in the wake of the growing evidence tying him to the scandal. Andy: I dont know the answer to that. He hired Dominic Mohan, who was later promoted to editor. There were so many different things that were unravelling in my life that I realised that if I tried to deal with them all, I would probably go mad. And that was partly necessary, just from a practical point of view, but it was also definitely a coping mechanism as well. And I thought, this is just hopeless, Im his Director of Communications and Im learning things in the paper. "[29][30], In July 2011 questions were raised about Coulson's security vetting at Number Ten. [8] He was detained and charged with perjury by Strathclyde Police on 30 May 2012 in relation to evidence he had given in the trial of Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan in 2010, and cleared on 3 June 2015. Gregg was born April 2, 1962, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mary Layne (ne Shine) and Robert Clark Gregg Sr., an Episcopal priest and Stanford University professor. Jane: So, tell me, what was a typical day at Belmarsh? People were being genuinely kind to me. Pic credit: CBS. Andy: I think if people want to talk about my time at the News of the World, that conversation should always start with an apology and I have apologised several times. Is that why you resigned? Jane: And I was going to say, in hindsight would you have taken that job? Theres also one thats totally out of your control and that is random violence. You talk about your wife, Eloise, and also your three sons. Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, remunerated by the newspaper, was given a custodial sentence of six months. Now, I dont recall seeing one of you. So I rang him and we had a conversation and that led me to say: Look, youve got plenty of friends in your life, you dont need any more friends, thats not what this is about, but if this is going to work we do need to be straight with each other with what you are trying to do here. Andy: I think I would, to be honest, yeah, because Im just not outraged enough by much any more. And thats, on any level, regardless of what that persons story might be, thats just sad. Thats what we have here and obviously for me Im going to say its an imperfect system, but Im certainly not arguing that it should have been done some other way. [39], As the Conservative Party's director of communications, Coulson continued to be subjected to allegations that he was aware of the hacking of phones while serving as the editor of News of the World. And that visiting thing, the rule is if you kind of cross the line into the visit and your visitor doesnt turn up youre not allowed to leave and that can be brutal. And actually, I dont feel much right now at all, life is good. Which do you think it was? During that time Andy faced three criminal trials. The problem was that I wasnt being categorised and I was told categorically, youre not going to get categorised. And I thought that was very generous of them really. Jane: I mean, two of those jobs there that you mentioned, the powerful jobs, obviously they do bring their own sort of sets of criticism with them. I had no complaint about it. So, I got a lot of that. It is an audit on your life and your relationships and there were some people, I think, I expected more of them, if I can put it that way. Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been released from prison after serving nearly five months in jail for conspiracy to hack phones. Without any shadow of a doubt, as a couple and as a family. Coulson is pictured leaving the court earlier. Did you ever feel scared? Jane: So youd make a lousy newspaper editor now? I just wanted to see them. Andy: Youve got a window next to you and I just sort of turned my back. Andy: I do, yeah. There were a lot of agendas being played. And its going to be Groundhog Day and actually the consequences of that trial could be even worse in Scotland and then a whole load of politics attached to that and theres a whole load of new agendas. But the bigger point for me is that number of people who ran into the gunfire for me, who owed me nothing and who have become unbelievable friends and support to me and to the family. Andy: You have to sit there on your own while the rest of your fellow inmates are with their families. [60][61], Coulson was to face a retrial, together with the News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman, after the jury failed to agree a verdict on two other charges of conspiring to cause misconduct in public office in relation to the alleged purchase of confidential royal phone directories in 2005 from a palace police officer. [14] On 30 June 2014, it was announced that he would face a retrial over two counts of conspiring to cause misconduct in public office in relation to the alleged purchase of confidential royal phone directories in 2005 from a palace police officer after the jury in the original trial was unable to reach a verdict on them. That was something I would do often, and like anyone else there have been other things in my life that have given that perspective. And that brings with it a whole bunch of other issues as well. Shes just not got a bitter bone in her body. Appalling times, by the way, that are far in excess of anything that Ive ever experienced, and we became friends. And they were nothing short of incredible. [13] On 17 April 2015, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Coulson's retrial was to be scrapped, along with that of Goodman and the trials of seven other journalists. Andy: Yeah, definitely. Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968)[2][3] is an English journalist and political strategist. [15], Coulson was also tried over charges that he committed perjury in the evidence he gave in HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan in 2010. Diary Londoner's Diary: Truth surfaces about Damien's undersea world. Certainly not for me. Everything is there in that book and its a cracking read. I dont need you take my advice but I do need you to listen to my advice. What I was reading, I disagreed with. Youve got to find your match and Ive definitely done that. And funnily enough, the governor, or the duty governor, pulled me out of the cell one night to ask me whether or not I was OK because he had read the report. Coulson was the editor of the News of the World from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to illegal phone-hacking. What happened, happened. [49], The Guardian reported on 7 July 2011 that Coulson was to be arrested the following day, along with a senior journalist whom the paper refused to name. I have apologised during the trial and Ill do it again now, here. Thats basically where you spend yourself emotionally as an editor, in between those two things. I was really concerned. Hoare speaking on Five Live, Drive, 3 September 2010. Ive really enjoyed it, but the process is that Im asking a whole bunch of really interesting people to share their stories and I just got to the end of the first series and it didnt seem very fair, frankly, that I hadnt put myself through the same process. Coulson, who now runs a successful strategy business, talks candidly and honestly about his regrets, resilience and recovery. And I made mistakes in my personal life as well, and so Ive never at any point felt why me? about it because thats just not how I feel. The work ethic amongst us all is very clear. Andy: It was boiling hot and it was a glorious summer, as I said. Normally youre packing to go on holiday, but youre packing to go to prison. In 1994, he briefly moved to the Daily Mail, but after nine weeks moved back to The Sun to edit Bizarre. Its actually a relatively modern prison but its got, as anyone whos been there, either inside or visiting, will know, this enormous American-style prison wall around its perimeter, and massive gates. [48], However, the Crown Prosecution Service said in December 2010 that it had determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge Coulson over allegations that he was aware of phone-hacking at the publication. Jane: Another clich is that you never know what youve got until theres a danger that you might lose it, which must have been a very real possibility in terms of your marriage in your own head. In the same way, Jane, that I hope that people will not judge me entirely on my mistakes, Im not going to judge other people entirely on their mistakes. Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968) is an English journalist and political strategist. [64] In October 2013, it was revealed that Coulson had had an affair with Rebekah Brooks that lasted from 1998 to 2007. As every step forward you take, again without trying to get too poetic about it, that rucksack, which is how I see it, its a rucksack with a bunch of rocks in it and every six months or so it gets significantly lighter. Andy: On the morning that I knew I was going to prison, I went to the back of my garden (I live out in the country), I went over the fence and into a field and then eventually I arranged for a local cab. Its that judgement thing again, you know. [40] Cameron, though, defended Coulson on the morning of 9 July: "I believe in giving people a second chance. And I tried to make the best of it. I found myself, very quickly, saying things in my own head that I had been saying to members of the cabinet not that long before, albeit them facing different crises, the principles were the same. It's only the bloody Stig.This Just In is an online comedy service . It is a fact of my life and it is an upsetting fact of my life. The saddest thing in prison is when youre queuing up for the phone, because thats how the system works, you have to wait to be able to use the phone. And I totally accept that and I am very sorry for it. And Ive got to be honest with you, it was actually really interesting and quite rewarding work. Not given a reason why and that you should prepare yourself for spending your sentence here entirely. Andy: Yeah, it is, it is hard. Andy: Well, I think because of the podcast series. Andy: Yeah, always. Simple as that, and theres a lot of that that goes on. You benefit from undiluted, unambiguous one-to-one advice, game changing campaigns and crisis guidance from p And, in fact, the last words from one of those prison officers to me as I was about to get on the bus were, Keep your head down, youll get through it, life moves on. One of the principles of prison is that everyone has to be on the same level. Jane: So, when you talk to other people you intro it with crisis stories worth sharing. Youve got to be either black or white. I suppose because the thing was so public and had been so long running, Ellie and I took the view that we werent going to try and attempt to hide any of it from them. Im undoubtedly happier. Journalist and political strategist, Andy Coulson was editor of the News of the World from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to illegal phone-hacking. Monty was 12? Andy Coulson (Andrew Edward Coulson) was born on 21 January, 1968, is a Journalist, newspaper editor. And so did that help in a way? [34], On 7 February 2011, Coulson and his wife established 'Elbrus Consultants Ltd'. Series 2. And the other, in the same way as I have just said that I got enormous enjoyment from the political job, there is also a danger that because my newspaper career ended so badly, that you, sort of, chuck out all the good stuff there. There were some fights, but never anything directed at me and nothing that caused me to feel scared in Belmarsh and certainly not when I got to Hollesley Bay, which was a different regime altogether. I was an editor of the News of the World for four years. 59 records for Andy Coulson. The key to it, I think, with therapy is you have got to find the right person. You have got to make a plan and youve got to focus on the things that youve got control of. Andy Coulson. And I could equally say, why on Earth did you do that, Andy? Because I read at one point that youd been pushed down the stairs. My mum, who has had a lot of difficulty in her life, is an amazing woman and shes incredibly resilient. And I talked them through it and I explained that Id been found guilty and that Id be going to a prison and then Id be moved at some point to an open prison and then they could come and see me. Andy: Well it came very suddenly. I think thats been an enormous help. Andy Coulson is the former spokesman for No 10 who reached the highest levels of his profession - before coming crashing down as a result of the phone-hacking scandal. Youve got to accept it, your good decisions and your bad decisions, and you have just got to move forward so trying to unpick in the past ask me from the point of a mental health issue, if you like, without doubt the most damaging, corrosive thing, is that reliving the past. Do you think thats fair? Id start with that, I think. And there was clearly a view inside Number 10 that, the moment a guilty verdict came, we need to get out and start talking and I think that was a bad decision. Reading has been very important through my crisis. Was there ever a point through all of this, the trial or prison or any of it, that you cried? Andy: Well its a mixture of things, I think, as it is for most people. The judge actually criticised the timing of the statement and said he was unsure whether it was out of ignorance or deliberate. Very hard to get it down to 10 songs, let alone get it down to one, but I think if I had to choose one it would be Keep Your Head Up by Ben Howard, which is a bit of a family anthem. Andy: Absolutely, yeah. As director of communications for the Conservatives he does an excellent job in a proper, upright way at all times. I remember, vividly, a young man sitting on his own for the entire duration because nobody came to see him. [28], Coulson announced his resignation on 21 January 2011. Youve got parameters but you dont really know because in the end that is obviously in the gift of the judge. "[31] According to Chris Bryant MP, senior officials working with Coulson believed that he had the same clearance level as his predecessor. Ask me if I felt I should have been convicted and the answer is obviously no because I pleaded not guilty. As a result we spent inordinate amounts of time just sat behind a door. During the course of the first series, there have been a few moments where people have asked me, guests have asked me, about my own experiences and Ive been happy to give a response. But there are a whole bunch of mistakes from a leadership point of view, I was the boss. And then before you know it, I live a way away from London, finally we got in and I had a final meeting with my lawyers. And thats the reason why I resigned. [15] Other defendants were cleared. Jane: Lets just backtrack a bit there. Jane: Hard not to be, though, I would have thought. [6][7], Coulson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service on 8 July 2011 in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking. Jane: We talked a bit, obviously, there about family and knowing the value of your family. Andy: Well, losing people, like we all have. And I said, look Im going to do this for a while, I think its fascinating, I think it will be an amazing achievement to try and help him get into Number 10, but Im not going to stay. Theres a door that youre going to go through. Because then you know actually, its not just a matter of getting through this, Im into it all over again. [21] Nobody put a gun to my head and told me to do those jobs. Some people said that you deserved everything you got by going to prison and others, I think when you were talking to Richard Bacon in a previous podcast, he said that your sentence was very harsh. Did you do a lot of that? I had plenty of offers and I just didnt. So your boys did come to Belmarsh? What conversations did you have with your older boys? Im pleased about that but someone needs to tell Google. Andy: Oh yeah, without any shadow of a doubt and thats thanks to her, not me. [52], On 24 July 2012, Coulson was charged along with seven others for "conspiring to intercept communications without lawful authority from 3 October 2000 to 9 August 2006. Jane: In his memoir, David Cameron wrote that he was wrong to insist that you were innocent until proven guilty and that he should have removed you in 2010 until the scandal snowballed. So I actually had a little bit of time at home to be able to prepare, which I was very grateful for because that allowed me to talk to the kids and to talk to Eloise and get things sorted, get organised as best I could. Andy: No, I prefer not to, really. Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson were having an affair for at least six years from the late 1990s, the phone-hacking trial has heard. Ex-spin doctor Andy Coulson found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones Phone hacking took place while he was the editor of the News of the World Police identified 4,000 possible victims of phone. I know Harvey was, what, 14? [22], On 21 July 2009 Coulson appeared in front of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and denied any knowledge of the phone hacking scandal, saying "my instructions to the staff were clear we did not use subterfuge of any kind unless there was a clear public interest in doing so. Which it was. Jane: Well, talking of which, as a journalist, we also know the picture that everybody wants is of somebody in the prison van being taken away. Jane: So how did you avoid that photograph? Because Id worked very hard at the News of the World, working weekends and god knows what else. And then we were brought in to see you. There was no brutality about it at all. I mean, there were lots of theories at the time. Lots of people were sending me books and I wasnt allowed to have them because they were, I thought rather ridiculously, banned at that stage by a former colleague of mine, Chris Grayling. I wasnt released on good behaviour, thats the system. So, actually, often there are these little small acts of kindness in prison, he didnt have to do it but he let me go to the phone and call Eloise and say that this things out there, but just be assured its total rubbish. It takes you nowhere. [38] In March 2017, Coulson Chappell was awarded a contract by the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) to improve the standing of the company's publications, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph. Jane: So how did you find out, or when did you find out that you were being moved? They take your clothes when you go to prison, which I think is sensible. [18], On 1 June 2015, the judge, Lord Burns, acquitted Coulson. And I took the view that this is what it is and it is just another place, a pretty unpleasant one, but its just another place. I was an ex-Murdoch employee in government and a lot of people really didnt like that and saw a lot of conspiracies within that, that I was some kind of stooge, which I absolutely was not. Therefore, the search process before you come in for a visit, as a visitor, is pretty unpleasant. When you saw very young men like that in prison, now that your own boys are reaching past adulthood, did you, sort of, connect with them? Now, she already knew about it, but having it made public was not easy, of course, and then you went to prison. Coulson Partners offer strategic advice that moves the dial. I quite like the one-in-five theory; that out of five people that you meet, three of them will be indifferent, one will think that youre an absolute superstar and the other one will never want to look you in the face again. Andy: Its a wretched moment and you know immediately really that youre going to be going to prison. Jane: As you say, its high security for a reason, because there are some pretty serious criminals in there. [62], Coulson was charged with having committed perjury during the trial in 2010 of Tommy and Gail Sheridan. [14] Andy: Well I will always argue that the mistakes were not criminal, because thats what I spent a lot of time standing in a witness box arguing and because its what I believe. Again, that came out in a previous podcast, I think with Jeremy. [58], Coulson's trial over the phone-hacking claims started in October 2013. When did you last speak to him? So, in this episode Ill be asking the questions in an attempt to unravel Andys five years of crisis. So its just too easy, I think, either for him or for me to say, I wish it had never happened, because you make decisions in the moment. Youve got to be either kind of 200% enthusiastic about something or youve got to be outraged. Its a wine called Chateau Musar and its from the Lebanon and I chose it because it is really tasty and also because it is liquid proof that there is good to come from crisis, given where this wine is made. And the only way to deal with it was to take one at a time and that is another common theme that has been coming out in these podcasts, that when you are in crisis, dont try and take control of everything. David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson was among seven people in court earlier charged in connection with the phone hacking scandal. There are dogs and there are searches and its another one of those sort of movie scenes. Former spin doctor Andy Coulson appears in court alongside Rebekah Brooks and three others charged over corrupt payments to officials. So, I spot the signs and I know what to do and I know how to kind of avoid it. Its not on my record. And Ive got to be honest with you, I think that is a change in me because as a newspaper editor, particularly, you are very judgemental. We built a brilliant team, we had the coalition. Jane: So, youve known the power and privilege of being a newspaper editor and advisor to David Cameron. Thats why I resigned from the News of the World and then when I was in Downing Street, Im there thinking how on Earth can I do this job? You try and work out what you can take into prison and what you cant. Jane: I wanted to point out before we really get started that its not really an interview about why you ended up in prison, because obviously the details of the trial can be Googled. The two others, well one of them got dropped and one I was acquitted, but thats the system. What did crisis teach you about friendship? And the Old Bailey is a court that is straight out of central casting. And I managed to get there. So thats why were doing this. Andy: Well I think for most people, not all actually, but most people who go to prison it's the kind of beginning of the end because yes youre in a van, yes youre going to Belmarsh, but you know now you are on the road, actually, to the end. You can be walking along the landing and someone walking the other way, for whatever reason, decides that the answer to their problem that day is to attack you. You take some advice. He attended high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was a professor at nearby Duke University. He was scheduled to stand trial in April 2015 but the trial was postponed to 11 May 2015 because of the general election. I mean, you've probably faced a few challenges in your life but an eight-month trial at the Old Bailey, followed by prison, is obviously another league. Andy: I have, yeah, and weve had that discussion. Andy: And then you go onto a tag and then, by the way, you are on licence for another lump of time and you are very restricted. But thats the really easy answer to give, isnt it? And when you see young men being separated from their families in that way, it is profoundly depressing. Almost from the start of the trial, actually, because the profile of the trial was so high. Theres a lot of emotion, theres a lot of different emotions but that is definitely the feature in prison. Age, Birthdate, Religion, and BirthPlace Read Also: Who is Ali Choupani Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth And I was able, very quickly totally different approach, totally different kind of attitude, the governor there, his view was, weve got you for a while and were going to make the most of it. Colton came . Andy: No, I was acutely aware of that, having published so many of those pictures. The way I choose to deal with it and the way Ive chosen to deal with it is be positive and go and build a business and employ some brilliant people, which I now do and go and work with a fantastic set of clients, which I do. So, I knew at that point that Id be going to prison and that was obviously not where I thought my life would take me. I think that we are all stronger for it. But first and foremost it was a professional relationship and thats exactly what I wanted it to be and he wanted it to be. Jane: OK, and finally you asked this of all your guests, the three crisis cures, if you like, and you know the rules; it cant be a person. I saw some pretty unpleasant things. Thats why I love podcasting, actually, its that its not a formal interview process, its a conversation. Never mind my resilience and my crisis, the truth of the matter is it was as much a crisis for them and for Ellie as it was for me. When were your darkest days? And then I noticed that the windows of the Serco van that I was in were rose-tinted. His predecessors had had the highest level of vetting, as did his successor and (after his departure) his deputy. Andy: Well, just the checking-in process because Id obviously tried to do some research beforehand. And share he has about Colton Underwood from the world of The Bachelor. And there were some jet streams in the sky, without getting too poetic about it. Rebekah Brooks, No 10'S former spin doctor Andy Coulson and three others appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court today. I told Eloise and we had discussed it before I went into prison, at what point did we think Id need to see the boys and theyd need to see me, and wed reached that point. As a newspaper editor, its a weekly crisis, daily crisis when youre working on The Sun, which is of course where I spent most of my time, most of my career. That must have felt weird, being the focus of the media storm? Im absolutely sure that Im a better advisor as a result of what happened. Your job is to be judgemental. Ask away. I remember reading, after I came out, that I had been released after just five months on good behaviour. On one level its fundamentally depressing to find yourself there. And we had a lot of fun, is the truth of it. They used to say about the News of the World, the old marketing slogan for the News of the World was all human life is here and thats true of Dickens. So, although they were still pretty young, theyd had a crash course in the law and in the legal process, if you like, already. Andy Coulson arrives at the Old Bailey on July 4, 2014 in London, England. Jane: So, youre packing your bag. The Coulson Brothers - Mills Brothers Medley -Bass Guitar & Vocals - Curt CoulsonLead Guitar & Vocals - Jack CoulsonKeyboards & Vocals - Otis CliftonDrums & . So, they made me an education orderly and I went and worked with a brilliant woman who runs the education programme at Hollesley Bay and I was effectively her teaching assistant, if you like. I think that the danger with this conversation, if Im brutally honest with you, as we sit here right at the start of it, is that it somehow comes off as woe is me. "[53] These charges were made about 1 year after the Metropolitan Police Service reopened its dormant investigation into phone hacking,[54] about 3 years after the then Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service told the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee that "no additional evidence has come to light,"[55] 5 years after Coulson and News International executives began claiming that phone hacking was the work of a single "rogue reporter,"[56] 10 years after The Guardian began reporting that the Met had evidence of widespread illegal acquisition of confidential information,[57] and 13 years after the Met began accumulating "boxloads" of that evidence, including sources for News of the World journalists while Coulson was editor, but kept it unexamined in trash bags at Scotland Yard. Coulson edited one of. Funny, at least for the first 10 times. The judge hearing Coulson's trial was critical of the prime minister, pondering whether the intervention was out of ignorance or deliberate, and demanded an explanation. Take control of what you actually have control over and, of course, the main thing that you have control over is your own mind-set and your own attitude. Jane: Obviously, your boys came to see you there and you tried to keep it as jolly and normal as possible, but when they left that must have been hard. Andy: They take your clothes when you go to prison, which I think is sensible. And before I knew it, much sooner than I thought, there was sun coming through the windows and then, again, it sounds strange, I suspect, to some people, but I just found the whole thing so utterly absurd. I think woe is me are probably the three most useless words in any event. So, youve got inmates there who have been in prison for a very long time. It was an amazing place to be and it was fascinating and rewarding and I was reasonably good it and I loved my colleagues.
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