Former 'News of the World' editor Andy Coulson cleared of perjury after prosecution collapses
Coulson was cleared of perjury charges at Scotland's High Court in Edinburgh, drawing a line under four years of legal action.
A perjury trial against Andy Coulson, the ex-editor of Britain's defunct tabloid and Prime Minister David Cameron's former media chief, collapsed, it was reported yesterday.
Coulson was cleared of perjury charges at Scotland's High Court in Edinburgh, drawing a line under four years of legal action for Coulson, who was jailed for five months in a separate case for phone-hacking at the .
He had been on trial accused of lying under oath before a Scottish court in 2010 about his knowledge of voicemail interception by the .
After state prosecutors concluded their case against Coulson, judge David Burns upheld a motion from Coulson's lawyers that he had no case to answer.
To constitute perjury, the alleged lies told at the original trial must be considered to potentially have a bearing on the jury in making their decision.
"I consider that the false evidence alleged in this indictment was not relevant evidence at the original trial and the charge of perjury in the indictment is irrelevant," Burns said.
He gave his decision on Monday but it could not be reported until yesterday as state prosecutors were given time to decide whether to appeal against the ruling. They did not appeal.
