Charlie Brooks

Charles Patrick Evelyn Brooks (born 3 March 1963) is a British socialite, newspaper columnist, racehorse trainer and former amateur jockey.

He is best known as the husband of Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK. The couple are seen as leading lights of the so-called 'Chipping Norton set', a politically influential clique close to the former leadership of the Conservative Party. On 15 May 2012, Brooks and his wife were charged with perverting the course of justice. On 24 June 2014, the High Court found Brooks and his wife Rebekah not guilty.

Early life Brooks was born Charles Patrick Evelyn Brooks on 3 March 1963 in Chipping Norton. His father died when he was 12. Other concealed items said to be part of Mr Brooks' property included an Apple laptop, iPad and iPod as well as a Sony laptop and other documents. They were discovered by cleaner Fernando Nascimento on a routine rubbish collection the day after Brooks' wife Rebekah was arrested at a south London police station in connection with the phone hacking investigation. "I envisaged 20 policemen coming in and emptying every drawer and looking under every nook and cranny, and I did think about my DVDs," Brooks later explained. One of the laptops "had a bit of smut on it too", he added.

On 13 March 2012 Charlie and Rebekah Brooks were arrested in a dawn raid at their home, on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. They were charged with perverting the course of justice in May 2012.

Charlie and Rebekah Brooks appeared in court at the Old Bailey on 26 September 2012. Rebekah Brooks faced three charges and Charlie Brooks one charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by concealing material from police officers. Their trial started in October 2013.

In Brooks' own defence, his lawyer called him "foolish," "stupid" and "not academically gifted". One character witness, Sara Bradstock, told the court how he drank a pint of washing up liquid to get rid of a hangover. Brooks told the hacking trial that he felt "ashamed" and "mortified" over the bungled bid to hide property from police. Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Charlie Brooks said he had done something "very stupid" but that the items stashed in an underground car park at the couple's London flat were his. The court heard that the property was hidden on 17 July 2011, the day police interviewed Mrs Brooks and carried out searches. He denied conspiring with his wife and News International head of security Mark Hanna to pervert the course of justice by concealing potential evidence. He said, "I'm mortified about the way I have embarrassed my wife. I'm furious with myself for being so stupid." He said he was also "under the influence" of alcohol but not "helplessly drunk" that day.

On 24 June 2014 the jury found Brooks and his wife not guilty of the charges against them. Brooks said in a statement: "At least on a racecourse, when you back a winner the bookmakers pay you". His wife, Rebekah Brooks, had earlier dropped her application for an estimated £7m in costs in June after it emerged that News UK (formerly News International), which had indemnified her, was no longer looking to recoup its costs.

Personal life He married Rebekah Wade, then editor of The Sun, in June 2009. The wedding was attended by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and future Prime Minister David Cameron, who is a close personal friend of the couple. In January 2012 Charlie and Rebekah Brooks became parents via a surrogate mother.

At the start of the phone hacking trial, the court was told by lead prosecuting counsel Andrew Edis QC that Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson had had an affair over a period lasting at least six years from 1998 to 2004, the period when much of the alleged conspiracy was alleged to have taken place.