Rebekah Brooks was formally charged on Thursday with conspiring to hack into phones, including that of murdered teenager Milly Dowler.
The former News of the World editor and News International chief appeared at a London police station Thursday night and was charged with three counts. Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that she, along with six associates including former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, former private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and former News of the World reporter Neville Thurlbeck, conspired to hack phones on multiple occasions over a six-year period.
Most damningly, the charges also allege that Brooks was directly involved in the decision to hack into Dowler's voicemail in the days following her disappearance.
The charges came a week after the British Crown Prosecution signalled that it was preparing to formally prosecute Brooks and Coulson over phone hacking. The charges bring Brooks' troubles to a new level, placing her at the very heart of the scandal that has rocked Rupert Murdoch's media empire. She has already been charged, along with her husband, with obstructing the investigation into her role in the affair. The police statement on Thursday listed her as "unemployed."
Brooks is set to appear in court on September 3rd.
Read the full statement on the charges here.
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