- Old Bailey told Brooks asked for help to 'spirit away' evidence when arrested
- Former NotW editor asked PA Cheryl Carter to hide notebooks, jury heard
- Brooks' husband allegedly took team to strip their two homes of evidence
- 'Arrangements were made to retrieve material from addresses with a view to preventing the material coming to the police,' prosecution said
Rebekah Brooks ordered the destruction of incriminating evidence when she was due to be arrested over phone hacking and corruption, the Old Bailey heard today.
The 45-year-old former News International chief executive allegedly orchestrated an elaborate cover-up operation to 'spirit away' notebooks and computers from the police.
She instructed her personal assistant Cheryl Carter to retrieve seven boxes of notebooks in a bid to stop them falling into police hands and these 'have not been seen again', the jury was told.
On trial: Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie arrive at the Old Bailey today, which heard the couple conspired to clear their homes of evidence to keep it away from the police
On the day of her arrest, Brooks also allegedly ordered a security team headed by her husband Charlie, 50, to strip their homes of computers and other incriminating material.
Mr Brooks is accused of sending the team to the houses in Chipping Norton and Chelsea Harbour while his wife was being quizzed by police.
Brooks is standing trial accused of phone hacking at the News of the World, corruption while in charge of the Sun, and the ensuing cover-up when police began to tighten the net.
Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said Carter, 49, and Brooks began the cover-up on July 8, 2011, just two days before the News of the World was to due to close in disgrace.
'They agreed to extract seven boxes of notebooks from the News International archive where they had been stored and to spirit them away', said prosecutor Andrew Edis QC.
It is alleged Carter was complicit in removing the boxes, knowing Brooks was deliberately trying to pervert the course of justice.
In the dock: Brooks is accused of asking for help from her PA Cheryl Carter, right, and others, to dispose of laptops and notepads on the eve of her arrest
Accused: News International's former head of security Mark Hanna is also accused of trying to dispose of Brooks' possession when she was arrested
Mr Edis said the second stage of the plan was on July 17, 2011, the same day Brooks was arrested by police investigating phone hacking.
'At the time when Mrs Brooks was arrested, the prosecution say she knew she was likely to be arrested and if she was, the police would then have the power to search the places where she lived', he said.
'This included a place called Jubilee Barn in Oxfordshire which was her and her husband's country home, and the London flat.
'Arrangements were made to retrieve material from both of these addresses with a view to preventing the material coming to the possession of the police.'
News International head of security Mark Hanna, 50, allegedly worked with Mr Brooks to strip the homes of potential evidence.
Brooks also ordered all emails at News International to be deleted from her time as editors of the News of the World and The Sun, the court heard.
She asked for a 'clean sweep' of emails before January 2010 despite knowing about a 'growing firestorm' over phone hacking under her stewardship.
Mr Edis said Brooks took a personal interest in the firm's email deletion process as the pressure was growing, shifting the cut-off date from January 2007 to January 2010.
High profile: Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson is among eight defendants on trial on various charges related to phone-hacking, illegal payments to officials for stories, and hindering police investigations
'Everyone needs to know that everything before January 2010 will not be kept', she wrote.
Mr Edis said: 'This happens to catch her entire period as a working editor at News International.'
Mr Hickey, noticing the date change, replied: 'Your note mentions January 2010 as the cut off point - this is different to the December 1, 2007 date that we discussed and put in the policy.
'Do you want to implement January 2010?'
Brooks shot back: 'Yes. January 2010. Clean sweep.'
Brooks is on trial accused of a six-year campaign of phone hacking at the News of the World with her then-lover and deputy editor Andy Coulson.
Coulson, 45, who went on to be Prime Minister David Cameron's spin doctor, is said to have carried on the phone hacking of senior politicians including Home Secretaries Charles Clarke and David Blunkett, and stars like Jude Law and Sienna Miller.
Co-defendants Ian Edmmondson, 44, and managing editor Stuart Kuttner, 73, are also accused of partaking in phone hacking, which included the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
Brooks and Coulson are also accused misconduct in public office, including buying a picture of Prince William wearing a bikini at a James Bond themed party from a military instructor.
Mr Edis said Brooks had been aware for at least two years prior to her arrest of the growing problems for News International, because of a Parliamentary inquiry and probing by the Press Complaints Commission.
'It was clear to Mrs Brooks right from the start of her time acting as chief executive officer, there was a serious inquiry into phone hacking allegations and the question of whether they had gone further than just Mr Goodman and Mr Mulcaire', he said.
Defendants: Former news editor at the News of the World Ian Edmondson (left) and former royal editor Clive Goodman (right), both pictured last week, are among the eight defendants
Absent: Stuart Kuttner, former News of the World managing editor, pictured last week, has missed several days of the trial so far
'A few weeks before, Mrs Brooks had been directly authorising payments to Bettina Jordan Barber (a MoD official)', he added.
'It is perfectly obvious in July and September 2009 that the heat was turning up.
'This wasn't going to go away, there was civil litigation, Parliament was engaged, other media organisations were engaged.
'There was a brief police review about whether to reopen the police investigation.
'The temperature was rising and it continued to rise as time went on.'
Mr Edis said this was important to show Brooks knew full well the implications if she herself was implicated in phone hacking and corruption.
The final defendant is former NoTW Royal Editor Clive Goodman, 56, accused of buying confidential royal phone books which included the direct phone number of the Queen.
Rebekah Brooks, of Churchill, Chipping Norton, Coulson, of Charing, Kent, Edmondson, of Raynes Park, south London, and Kuttner, of Woodford Green, Essex all deny of one count of conspiracy to intercept communications.
Brooks also denies two counts of perverting the course of justice and two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.
Coulson, with Clive Goodman, of Addlestone, Surrey, also denies two counts of misconduct in a public office.
Carter, of Chelmsford, Essex, Hanna, of Buckingham, Bucks, and Charlie Brooks, of Churchill, Chipping Norton all deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
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