Andy: Well sometimes literally all day. 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. 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. No one knows in advance. I made my case but I obviously didnt succeed with the jury. I had plenty of offers and I just didnt. He subsequently joined David Cameron's personnel as communications director, until announcing his departure on 21 January 2011 because of continued media coverage of the phone-hacking affair. I was working with people from another party and we all made that work really well. One you can have total control over, and that is: dont get into debt. Coulson replaced Rebekah Wade as editor in 2003. [51] He was questioned under caution, and later that day released on police bail until October, but made no comment on his release. Ive got very used to that. [9][10][11][12], In June 2014 at the Old Bailey, Coulson was found guilty of a charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails (phone-hacking). Coulson's parents moved from their Basildon council house to nearby Wickford during his childhood. Andy: Dangers of drug smuggling and all manner of other suggested uses for books. The judge actually criticised the timing of the statement and said he was unsure whether it was out of ignorance or deliberate. I think it is something that you need to continually look at and work on and assess and I certainly do that. I think he had people advising him at that stage, obviously. Andy: Well, just the checking-in process because Id obviously tried to do some research beforehand. So, I was a very willing crisis volunteer long before I became a conscript. When were your darkest days? Funnily enough I am a bit of a blubberer, but its normally at something really sort of soft. Then we got word that, no it wasnt going to be, it was going to push on. But youve never shared your own experience. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 52 years old? Andy: Probably a bit of both. So, I got a lot of that. I was all over it. You have got to make a plan and youve got to focus on the things that youve got control of. Andy: Well, I think because of the podcast series. I didnt know what was going to happen and I didnt know what I was going to find. And that was corrosive. [19], Coulson grew up in Wickford, Essex. [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. Monty was 12? In the second extract from his new book Hack Attack, Nick Davies. Again, that is what this podcast is mainly about. David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson was among seven people in court earlier charged in connection with the phone hacking scandal. In 2001, in the run up to the general election, he asked Tony and Cherie Blair whether they were members of the mile high club. What happens to you when you come there? 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. However, the acquittal was suspended while the Crown considered whether to appeal the decision and was therefore not announced until 3 June. Andy: Its a wretched moment and you know immediately really that youre going to be going to prison. 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. A Stratford employment tribunal upheld a claim of unfair dismissal claimed by senior sports writer Matt Driscoll, and stated "We find the behaviour to have been a consistent pattern of bullying behaviour". 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. And thats, on any level, regardless of what that persons story might be, thats just sad. Because youve not really spoken about that, have you? 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. How can I do that? The Coulson Brothers - Mills Brothers Medley -Bass Guitar & Vocals - Curt CoulsonLead Guitar & Vocals - Jack CoulsonKeyboards & Vocals - Otis CliftonDrums & . Jane: Well that was sort of going to be my next question, because undoubtedly your role at Downing Street heightened the interest in your trial. Its amazing. Jane: Did you worry that it would come across as self-serving? 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 share he has about Colton Underwood from the world of The Bachelor. 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? Andy: Yeah, definitely. Coulson, 46, who also worked as director of . Find Andy Coulson's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. Andy: Yeah, there was a report online, I think, that said that and it was complete nonsense, it didnt happen. There are very, very few of them that I continue to feel any sort of disappointment about, because people have got their own lives and you see that very quickly. Thats a memory I didnt want my boys to have and I regret that. [24] The judgement singled out Coulson for making "bullying" remarks in an email to Driscoll. Because I read at one point that youd been pushed down the stairs. Did you do a lot of that? 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. I remember reading, after I came out, that I had been released after just five months on good behaviour. Its an unnatural thing to do to relive your life and, by the way, if all you are doing is reliving your life through a negative prism, its a fundamentally unhealthy thing to do. I was really concerned. 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. 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. [23], In 2008 an employment tribunal upheld a claim of bullying by Coulson whilst he was at the News of The World. Jane: So youd make a lousy newspaper editor now? Coulson had served as the editor of News of the World from 2003 to 2007, when he Read More And there were some jet streams in the sky, without getting too poetic about it. Andy: I have, yeah, and weve had that discussion. Jane: You were acquitted. [36] Kate Robertson of One Young World told the Guardian "He can't do One Young World work at the moment, that is absolutely clear". 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. I spent five years talking about it. Andy: No, I prefer not to, really. It takes you nowhere. But there are a whole bunch of mistakes from a leadership point of view, I was the boss. Jane: So, tell me, what was a typical day at Belmarsh? Because then you know actually, its not just a matter of getting through this, Im into it all over again. Certainly, when you find yourself in crisis and thats also, more importantly, just not how I see it. But this kind of disconnection from family, whatever the circumstances, is just a fundamental negative. 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. So thats how I spent quite a bit of my time there. I have apologised during the trial and Ill do it again now, here. His brother and co-founder John Collison scored the highest-ever score received by a student for the Irish Leaving Certificate. The Guardian said that the disclosure "is understood to have 'absolutely shocked' some Whitehall information staff. Ask me if I felt I should have been convicted and the answer is obviously no because I pleaded not guilty. It is a fact of my life and it is an upsetting fact of my life. In 2005, Andy Coulson was the award-winning editor of the News of the World, presiding over a culture of ruthless exploitation. So, I spot the signs and I know what to do and I know how to kind of avoid it. 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. [50], Coulson was arrested at Scotland Yard at 10:30am on 8 July 2011. And I thought that was plain wrong and I was livid about it. I wont ever be at peace with it, I suspect in one sense, because it hurts. As director of communications for the Conservatives he does an excellent job in a proper, upright way at all times. And Eloise, who is a considerably more evolved human being than I am, knew that long before I did and shes trained me well in that regard. I wasnt released on good behaviour, thats the system. [42] Coulson has denied these latest claims. 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. That came not long after I arrived in Belmarsh and that was probably the worst moment. [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. Its a very long Victorian corridor full of very old Victorian cells in which there have been some very famous and very notorious criminals over the years. 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. Andy: Yeah, my view was that they had absolutely every right to be at the end of my drive and they had every right to try and get a picture of me and I had every right to avoid it. And there was a bit of joshing as well, particularly with prison officers when I would kind of complain about the process or I would ask the question, Why am I still here when I think I should have been categorised by now? and Id get a wry look that says, Well Tory cuts, Andy.' I saw some pretty unpleasant things. Those were my choices and when you take jobs like that, people are going to form a view. It taught me that I consider myself to be a reasonably good friend but I think I could have been better, so I think it taught me to be a better friend. Andy: Yeah, always. Revelation: Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson (left, in September 2004) were having a secret affair for at least six years, the Old Bailey heard. I left and David didnt want me to go. [32] It later emerged that he was still being paid by News International while working for the then opposition leader. Certainly not for me. And as a result of that I met a large number of prisoners because I was helping them put their CVs together. Ask away. And it was over 20 years of my life, Jane, as you know. Andy: Well I just think for anyone, him or anyone, me included, trying to live life through the rear-view mirror is an utterly pointless exercise, so I dont know. Fair enough, really. On 7 July 2009, John Prescott called on leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron to remove Coulson from his position, after The Guardian revealed further details about phone-hacking by the News of the World. There was a real kind of internal crisis, funnily enough, at Belmarsh at that moment. Because the truth is, for the nearly year that I was there, I loved it, Jane. 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. But Ive got some good techniques now. Having been told Id be there for the duration, I suddenly got a knock on the door and got chucked a couple of plastic bin liners and they said, Fill these up, youre off.' That must have felt weird, being the focus of the media storm? Andy: There were moments when I felt utter despair. I think thats been an enormous help. 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. I use a guy who lives up in Scotland, Ron, who is just outstanding and I still talk to him from time to time now. He added that the case against him had been a "waste of money". [1][65], English journalist and political strategist, Conservative Party communications director, Downing Street Director of Communications. Andy: Better than the alternative. So, in this episode Ill be asking the questions in an attempt to unravel Andys five years of crisis. I had no complaint about it. Series 2. Ive never been through what youve been through, but a lot of people when they have a day or whatever, you think about other people who are worse off than you. Jane: So, when you talk to other people you intro it with crisis stories worth sharing. Andy: In the jobs that I did I never really wanted any profile. Youre a state-school-educated Essex lad. No one knew that at that stage. People treated us with respect and we did the same. It was an amazing place to be and it was fascinating and rewarding and I was reasonably good it and I loved my colleagues. I like to think Im a better husband; I like to think Im a better father, a better friend. It's only the bloody Stig.This Just In is an online comedy service . 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. Nobody put a gun to my head and told me to do those jobs. 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. His predecessors had had the highest level of vetting, as did his successor and (after his departure) his deputy. Responsibility for the monitoring, control and mitigation of Conduct Risk for the Group. I think on one level the answer was yes, because it was just so long. Andrew Edward Coulson (born 21 January 1968)[2][3] is an English journalist and political strategist. So thats why were doing this. Beginning the Entrepreneurial Journey. That doesnt mean that Im pleased it happened, Im not. Were going to put you to work. [44] And Clive Goodman, in a letter from 2007: "The practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor. 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. Mar 2016 - Oct 20182 years 8 months. "[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. Without any shadow of a doubt, as a couple and as a family. I dont think its something that you sort of say right, great, Ive done that, thats finished. That was very clear, I think. September 18, 2020. And before I knew it, because its down underneath the Old Bailey where you get on the bus, you then go up a ramp and it was a gloriously sunny day, July the fourth, ironically enough, Independence Day 2014. And that was partly necessary, just from a practical point of view, but it was also definitely a coping mechanism as well. 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. 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. And politics is an hourly crisis, right? Id start with that, I think. I knew that Eloise would have read it and I knew that my mum would have read it. Youve got to find your match and Ive definitely done that. Jane: Because it had been quite a high-profile trial. Because his family relocated frequently, he had lived in seven cities by the time he was 17. 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. "[41], On 1 September 2010 The New York Times printed new allegations from former News of the World reporters alleging that Coulson had "actively encouraged" reporters to illegally intercept voicemail messages, and that he "was present during discussions about phone hacking". There are probably people out there who maybe even think worse, but there is nothing I can do about that. [37], In January 2016 Coulson launched a new corporate PR agency offering communications strategy services in partnership with Henry Chappell, Coulson Chappell. Andy Coulson (Andrew Edward Coulson) was born on 21 January, 1968, is a Journalist, newspaper editor. It was all part of that experience, it's what you have got to lean on and you change and you evolve and I definitely got to that point by the time I got to prison. Coulson Partners offer strategic advice that moves the dial. Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC. Jane: Lets just backtrack a bit there. 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. He attended high school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was a professor at nearby Duke University. [21] Andy: Well because Belmarsh is a high-security prison for a reason. Jane: We talked a bit, obviously, there about family and knowing the value of your family. How can I be the Director of Communications in Downing Street when Im on the front pages? Heres the full transcript: Jane: Im Jane Moore, a friend of Andys and for a number of years his colleague at The Sun. [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. I would say I felt anxious right at the start, because its the unknown. Its not on my record. A bemused local cabbie found himself sitting in the middle of a cornfield and off we went to the station. And its like eating rotten fruit. Its proper drama. 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 got told by a couple of prison guards, because I chatted to everyone, again, its the journalist in me, I had lots of conversations with other prisoners and with prison guards, prison officers and two of them actually told me, Youre just being put to the bottom of the pile, Andy. I was told, because there was a view that the Scottish case, because it was such a nonsense, would be dropped. Jane: So, there came a point where you thought, OK, I dont know how long Im going to be here. Do you feel the need to sometimes wear that like a badge, to own it in certain situations? Diary Londoner's Diary: Truth surfaces about Damien's undersea world. Search instead in Creative? Andy: My sentence, having been found guilty of the crime, was probably about right. Its appalling. Downfall of the 'Essex boy done good': Andy Coulson's journey to Downing Street and how his wife stood by him as the hacking trial exposed his infidelity and forced him to sell their 1.65m house. I think it probably did. Eloise and the boys have to take the gold medal, if you like, for getting me through but there are a whole load who get the silver medal and Im very grateful for it. [40] Cameron, though, defended Coulson on the morning of 9 July: "I believe in giving people a second chance.
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