Ex-Murdoch aide Rebekah Brooks in court

Ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and her husband Rebekah Brooks, the former aide to Rupert Murdoch and editor of the News of the World, appears in a court for the first time on Wednesday to face charges relating to the phone-hacking scandal. Her racehorse trainer husband Charlie Brooks will also be at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, where the couple both face charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
The charge carries a potential term of life imprisonment.
The couple were charged on May 15 in the first prosecutions to emerge from a major police investigation into the illegal accessing of voicemails by the tabloid, which closed in disgrace in July 2011.
Rebekah Brooks, 44, faces three charges of removing boxes of material from the archive of News International, the UK newspaper arm of Murdoch\'s News Corp, and trying to conceal documents, computers and other material from police.
Charlie Brooks, 49, faces one charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Also appearing in court are Cheryl Carter, 48, Brooks\'s personal assistant, Mark Hanna, the head of security at News International, Brooks\'s chauffeur Paul Edwards, 47, who was employed by News International, and Daryl Jorsling, 39, who provided security for Brooks that was supplied by NI.
The charges all relate to early July 2011, a frantic period during which Murdoch closed down the News of the World in disgrace after it emerged that it had hacked the phone of Milly Dowler, a murdered schoolgirl.
Rebekah Brooks said after she was charged last month that she was \"baffled\" by the charges, while her husband described them as a \"witch-hunt\".
Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International in July.
Her career began on the bottom rung of Murdoch\'s empire more than two decades ago but she rose quickly and edited the News of the World from 2000 to 2003, and The Sun, its daily sister tabloid.
Brooks also moved in the highest circles of British politics, and testified to the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics inquiry about her close friendship with Prime Minister David Cameron.
The charges are the first since Scotland Yard opened a huge new investigation into hacking and bribery in which more than 40 people have been arrested.
A News of the World journalist and a private detective were jailed for hacking in 2007 but the paper insisted they were rogue operators.