David Cameron’s former head of communications, Andy Coulson, is facing a six-figure legal bill after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed it was seeking to have £750,000 costs awarded against him for last year’s marathon phone-hacking trial.
He was convicted of plotting to intercept voicemails at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid following an eight-month trial at the Old Bailey last year.
The CPS said in a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday that it was applying for this contribution from Coulson as his portion of the £1.1m total cost of Scotland Yard’s Operation Weeting prosecution.
It is also seeking £111,000 from a former News of the World news editor, Ian Edmondson, who was also convicted of plotting to hack the phones of public figures, sports stars and celebrities.
At a costs hearing before Mr Justice Saunders, counsel for Coulson argued that the starting point for any discussion on costs should be £323,800, not the £750,000 mooted by the CPS.
Saunders sought further details on Coulson’s finances and future earning potential and inquired about reports that he may be intending to write a book. “There have been suggestions that Mr Coulson is trying to raise funds by writing a book. I have no idea of the trust of those suggestions, it is something suggested in the press. I would have to be sure that there are no intensions in regard to that.”
Counsel replied: “Mr Coulson does not have a publishing agreement with any publisher, he has not been offered a publishing agreement, he has not written a book.”
She argued that having to pay £750,000 would force Coulson to lose his family home and this would not be “a just and reasonable order”.
Counsel for Coulson, who lives in Preston, Kent, said “an equity release [from the house] would be impossible to meet and bring hardship to himself and others.”
Saunders noted that he was a talented man who would be expected to have future earnings capacity. He quipped that the value of Coulson’s house, which was not stated in court, was “not astronomical but more than my house is worth”.
Counsel told the court that Coulson relies on “close and loyal” friends to help with family bills.
Prosecutor Mark Bryant-Heron said Coulson had not told the CPS how much he earned when he worked for the Conservative party. “We have no intelligence of any assets that haven’t been declared. We are concerned about an absence of information about what he earned when he worked for the Conservative party in government and what has happened to his income,” he said.
Dominic Chandler, representing Edmondson, insisted that he should not have to contribute anything to the prosecution costs.
Edmondson pleaded guilty in October last year – 16 months after he had initially pleaded not guilty before the phone hacking trial. He was one of the original eight defendants at the Old Bailey but, for health reasons, was deemed unfit to continue on the 29th day of proceedings.
Saunders noted that Edmondson’s four-bedroomed house is worth even more than Coulson’s.
Chandler told the judge Edmondson “has a limited ability to find work, he does face regular rejections for work as a result of this case … It is and does prove to be impossible for Mr Edmondson to find work. The court should make no order in relation to costs.” He told the court that the only financial assets Edmondson has are £5,000 savings and his home.
Saunders said he would give a written judgment on costs after further information he sought from parties was submitted.
• This article was amended on 19 June 2015. An earlier version said incorrectly that Andy Coulson has had problems keeping up with his mortgage payments.