16 October 2014It was good news for the taxpayer yesterday as Charlie Brooks and former News of the World executive Stuart Kuttner were refused costs they incurred as a result of being co-defendants in the phone-hacking trial.

In response to the outcome racehorse trainer Mr Brooks had said ‘At least on a racecourse, when you back a winner the bookmakers pay you’Dr Evan Harris, Associate Director of Hacked Off said:“Mr Brooks response is rather facile given the circumstances. In this case a judge has ruled that a millionaire who brought suspicion upon himself by his actions should not be permitted to make a £500,000 raid on the legal aid budget. Perhaps he should instead ask his wife for some of the £10 million pay-off she received from Rupert Murdoch at the time that hundreds of low paid News of the World staff were made redundant.

“ENDS