[DtheP47]

Originally Posted by davebtelford

This trial failed - which I believe it has in essence (only one convicted who hadn't already plead guilty) - because the defence was funded by Rupert Murdoch and had unlimited millions to throw at fancy lawyers whereas the prosecution had to make do with what they could get on the cheap.

As the Guardian puts it:
"Rupert Murdoch’s money flooded that courtroom. It flowed into the defence of Rebekah Brooks, because he backed her; and to the defence of Andy Coulson, because Coulson had sued and forced him to pay. Lawyers and court reporters who spend their working lives at the Old Bailey agreed they had never seen anything like it, this multimillion-pound Rolls-Royce engine purring through the proceedings. Soon we found ourselves watching the power of the private purse knocking six bells out of the underfunded public sector."