Andy: Yeah, well Id had that for years by that stage and I think itd be grossly hypocritical for me to even begin to whinge about that, so I never had any issue with that at all. Its hopeless. 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. They take your clothes when you go to prison, which I think is sensible. Prison is a, very obviously, stark place but it is also packed with emotion. And a whole lot of stuff happened at the News of the World which should not have happened during my time, and Im sorry about that because the impact of it on an awful lot of people was, the result of it was a lot of pain and a lot of hurt for people. Find professional Andy Coulson videos and stock footage available for license in film, television, advertising and corporate uses. And I have some views on what works and what doesnt work in prison, having been inside one for a while, though I do not claim to be an expert by any means, given the length of time I was there. I just think people deal with things in different ways. He attended Beauchamps High School, a secondary school and sixth form college, from 1979 to 1986. And I could equally say, why on Earth did you do that, Andy? Andy: Yeah, yeah. [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. Its proper drama. [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. Andy: No, as I say, only during the course of a very long trial in the Old Bailey where I answered every question, I gave full evidence and answered every question that was asked of me by a fair number of lawyers and a judge. 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. This article is more than 8 years old Andy Coulson, the criminal who had David Cameron's confidence Former No 10 spin doctor is found guilty of hacking charge while Rebekah Brooks is cleared of. 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. Weve made a lot of cups of tea for journalists standing on the end of our drive over the years, quite happily. The court felt that they could deal with it so thats where that ended. Andy: I dont know the answer to that. Andys been upfront about that aspect of his CV during this podcast series and, indeed, has talked openly with his former prison mate, the England cricketer Chris Lewis, but hes never discussed his own crisis in any depth, until now. And what I understood quite quickly is that theres two routes to violence in prison. Andy: Well that didnt happen immediately, because theres a period of time between verdict and sentencing. In this first episode of the second series, Andy puts himself on the other side of the microphone and talks to journalist and broadcaster Jane Moore about his five-year crisis. I have to say, everyone through that process, the prison officers down in the cells at the Old Bailey, could not have been, frankly, more friendly. And I thought, this is just hopeless, Im his Director of Communications and Im learning things in the paper. In January, a former News of the World journalist told the trial that his phone hacking skills were the main reason Coulson had hired him. There have been the odd conversations. I never asked for any favours at all from anyone, but what I didnt think was fair was for me to be treated differently. Andy Coulson, the former Downing Street Communications Director and News of the World editor, has given his first detailed interview about the scandal that ended, in 2014, with a spell in HMP Belmarsh. 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. Ive got very used to that. Dont try and solve it all. Andy: I have, yeah, and weve had that discussion. 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. 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. No one wants to spend two months of their life in a high-security prison, certainly, but I was mainly concerned about my boys because I wanted to see them and I didnt want them to visit me in a high-security prison. And actually, I dont feel much right now at all, life is good. It was that sort of combination of mind-numbing boredom, an awful lot of frustration because I was told that I would be in Belmarsh for a couple of days and then Id be categorised, given the nature of my conviction, be categorised as a D-Cat pretty swiftly, and then Id be off to an open prison. Some of them not even necessarily related to the stuff weve been talking about here, its just life. And I managed to get there. The judge added that it was for him, and not the jury, to decide on this aspect of the case and that the Crown's legal submissions had failed to satisfy him that Coulson's evidence had been sufficiently relevant to the Sheridan trial. . And that is, I have to say, largely thanks to Eloise because shes, maybe well get on to it, the reason I got through is her. Then we got word that, no it wasnt going to be, it was going to push on. There was a real kind of internal crisis, funnily enough, at Belmarsh at that moment. 59 records for Andy Coulson. All I know is that when I took the job, actually, I said to him, Im taking this job, David, on the basis that I will not go into Downing Street because that was the deal Id done with Eloise. [20], He became deputy editor of the News of the World, the Sunday sister paper of The Sun, in 2000. 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. They were to work within the PCC code at all times". I am very sorry for the mistakes that I made at the News of the World. 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. And then before you know it youre back in court with a suitcase, waiting to find out how long youre going to go to prison for. In 1988, he moved to The Sun, working with Piers Morgan on the showbiz column Bizarre. And I just thought to myself, how the hell did I end up here? And then we got closer to it and as it looked likely that we were going to succeed, David sat me down and said, I need you and I want you to stay. He was acquitted in two, including one in Scotland, but was convicted of conspiracy to intercept communications, or phone-hacking as it became known, and at the Old Bailey was sentenced to 18 months. 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, until you are there for, as it turned out for me, a couple of weeks, a bit longer actually, youve got to wear this kind of corned-beef-coloured tracksuit, which is utterly charming. There are dogs and there are searches and its another one of those sort of movie scenes. [42] Coulson has denied these latest claims. The main thing for me is that bitterness bullet, youve just got to keep dodging it, because bitterness really does send you only one way, it will only ever send you backwards. 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. [59] In June 2014, Coulson was found guilty of one charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison on 4 July 2014. 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. I dont know how long you can give it but I want you to stay and be in Downing Street with me, which was, I have to say, enormously flattering. Andy: I dont know. Rebekah Brooks, No 10'S former spin doctor Andy Coulson and three others appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court today. And I had so much incoming. I think thats probably about right and so I have no issue with other peoples views about me. Beginning the Entrepreneurial Journey. Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968)[2][3] is an English journalist and political strategist. So, what are yours? That was very difficult. Thats basically where you spend yourself emotionally as an editor, in between those two things. And the Old Bailey is a court that is straight out of central casting. Your job is to be judgemental. There were mistakes made during my time at the News of the World, without any shadow of a doubt, but my 20s were professionally rewarding, fascinating and fun and newspapers were I cant speak for now because Ive been out of them for so long a very exciting place to be. Its that judgement thing again, you know. Ask away. Andy: It was boiling hot and it was a glorious summer, as I said. Explaining his ruling, Lord Burns said that for Coulson to be found guilty it was necessary for the Crown to prove that the allegedly untrue evidence he had given at the 2010 Sheridan trial had been relevant to the issues in it. Nobody put a gun to my head and told me to do those jobs. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. The key to it, I think, with therapy is you have got to find the right person. 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. Andy: I do, yeah. In 2005, Andy Coulson was the award-winning editor of the News of the World, presiding over a culture of ruthless exploitation. And there are blokes there, for a whole range of reasons, who are trying to make sense of their lives again and who are disconnected from their families. When I was in the midst of all this I was encouraged by Eloise and friends to go and talk to someone and I did that. I think it probably did. Certainly, when you find yourself in crisis and thats also, more importantly, just not how I see it. And it is all about cues and nudges that push you in a certain direction and I just try and avoid those. And that is not a good moment. He hired Dominic Mohan, who was later promoted to editor. Early life. Former government director of communications and News of the World. 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. Andy: Better than the alternative. So part of the evidence presented at the trial revealed that you had had an affair. And then we were brought in to see you. Andy: Yeah, it is, it is hard. And the reason that Ive been able to, its been a long time since I came out of prison and the reason Ive been able to get back on my feet, Ive got a reasonably successful business now and Ive got some fantastic clients and colleagues, life is pretty good, and that is in large part due to her. And I totally accept that and I am very sorry for it. But no, certainly not in this kind of context. Jane: We talked a bit, obviously, there about family and knowing the value of your family. 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. People treated us with respect and we did the same. Andy: Yeah, there came a point where I was told pretty formally, youre not going anywhere. Jane: So, you pitch up at Category A prison HMP Belmarsh. Various media stories estimated his salary at between 275,000[26] and 475,000; the party indicated the latter figure was "inaccurate" and that his salary was "substantially less" but refused to provide an exact figure. I was pretty unhappy about being put through a public enquiry on television before I got to trial. So ask me what my biggest regret is, I would absolutely say it was the decision that I took to have my two oldest sons, not Finn, come and visit me in Belmarsh, because it was only a couple of weeks after that visit that I got moved. I got my head around it pretty quickly and what I kind of understood fairly swiftly is that the thing that should make you nervous about being in prison is violence, obviously. So your boys did come to Belmarsh? Episode 8. Jane: Did you worry that it would come across as self-serving? Andy: Well its a mixture of things, I think, as it is for most people. Hoare was found dead at home on 18 July 2011. conspiracy to intercept voicemails (phone-hacking), Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Metropolitan police role in phone hacking scandal, "Phone hacking trial reveals married Brooks affair with Andy Coulson", "Coulson resigns due to phone-hacking scandal", "Coulson Quits No 10 Over Phone-Hack Pressure", "Alan McGauley: This marriage of convenience is ending in tears", "News of the World phone-hacking scandal live updates", "Andy Coulson cleared of perjury as trial collapses", "Andy Coulson charged in Tommy Sheridan trial perjury inquiry", "Scottish police charge Andy Coulson with Tommy Sheridan trial perjury", "Hacking trial: Coulson guilty, Brooks cleared of charges", "Andy Coulson jailed for 18 months over phone hacking", "Andy Coulson to face retrial over alleged payments to public officials", "Andy Coulson guilty in phone hacking trial: His future may well depend on a level of privacy denied the hacking victims", "Andy Coulson to face perjury charges over the Tommy Sheridan trial", "Andy Coulson perjury trial delayed until after general election", "Ex-editor Andy Coulson bullied News of the World reporter, rules tribunal", News of the World faces 800,000 payout in bullying case, "Andy Coulson takes 135,000 pay cut to join Coalition", "David Cameron's PR director Andy Coulson paid 140,000", "Andy Coulson quits Downing Street communications role", Pressure mounts on David Cameron over Andy Coulson's security level, Fears over Andy Coulson's clearance as officials admit: We thought he had been vetted, "Andy Coulson reportedly paid by News International when hired by Tories", "David Cameron has explaining to do over apology for hiring Andy Coulson", "Andy Coulson could remain 'the story' for Elbrus Consultants' clients, expert warns", "Andy Coulson's new PR business Elbrus Consultants under pressure", "Phone hacking: I warned No 10 over Coulson appointment, says Ashdown", "Former NoW editor Andy Coulson sets up PR firm", "Andy Coulson hired as Telegraph PR adviser", "David Cameron urged to sack Tory spin doctor Andy Coulson", "News of the World phone hacking Andy Coulson may be grilled by MPs", "Tabloid Hack Attack on Royals, and Beyond", "Phone hacking claims: John Prescott calls for police conduct inquiry", "Full text of Clive Goodman's letter to News International", "Phone-hacking scandal: Andy Coulson 'listened to intercepted messages', "Andy Coulson listened to hacked messages, former colleague says", "Coulson won't be prosecuted over phone-hacking", "Andy Coulson to be arrested over phone hacking tomorrow", "Coulson And Goodman Released in NOTW Probe", "News of the World phone hacking: Andy Coulson arrested and his computer seized", "Alison Levitt QC's announcement on charges arising from Operation Weeting", "Examination of Witnesses (Question Numbers 18891899)-Assistant Commissioner John Yates and Detective Chief Superintendent Philip Williams", "Phone-hacking: how the 'rogue reporter' defence slowly crumbled", "Fraudster squad- Graeme McLagan on the black economy run by corrupt police and private detectives", "Phone-hacking scandal widens to include Kate Middleton and Tony Blair", "Phone-hacking: Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson in 2013 trial", "Andy Coulson leaves prison after serving five months of 18-month term", "Operation Elveden: Nine journalists have cases dropped", "Coulson and Brooks affair 'lasted longer' than earlier suggested", Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Downing Street Directors of Communications, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andy_Coulson&oldid=1123419212, People associated with the News International phone hacking scandal, Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales, Articles with dead external links from February 2022, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 November 2022, at 16:58. Jane: I remember coming to see you with Eloise and the boys and you all sort of sit in a gymnasium, dont you? So I changed my mind. Andy Coulson, the former newspaper editor and Downing Street spokesperson jailed on phone hacking charges, revealed that he has built a new career as a crisis strategy consultant - and "business. Showing Editorial results for andy coulson. Youve got, obviously, a lot of press outside your front door. 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. Coulson was name-checked by Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) in an episode of This Time with Alan Partridge (Series 02, Episode 02) during an introduction to a segment about law and order. Coulson replaced Rebekah Wade as editor in 2003. And I have to say that we never had any problems. BirthName, Nickname, and Profession So first, let's take a look at some personal details of Andy, like name, nickname, and profession. permanent tsb. September 18, 2020. Learn How rich is He in this year and how He spends money? And it was over 20 years of my life, Jane, as you know. Now, she already knew about it, but having it made public was not easy, of course, and then you went to prison. There were a lot of agendas being played. Which it was. I think on one level the answer was yes, because it was just so long.