The UK Crown Prosecution Service decided not to charge six journalists with phone hacking last week.
According to the Press Gazette, the six had been “questioned by police” related to “suspicion of involvement in phone-hacking.”
The six journalists all had worked for Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World. Rachel Richardson, Matt Nixson, Polly Graham, Jane Atkinson were four of the six named, according to the Press Gazette. Two others weren’t named.
A July 16 press release on the Crown Prosecution Service’s website states the CPS’s decision isn’t “to determine criminal charges, but to make good faith, carefully considered assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to determine.”
CPS lawyer Gregor McGill explained in the statement:
“In relation to these six individuals, we have concluded that there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction in connection with allegations relating to the unlawful interception of telecommunications, namely voicemail messages (‘phone hacking’).”
CPS also decided not to press charges against two of those six people “for an offense under the Data Protection Act 1998.”
One of those people dodged charges because of “insufficient evidence to prosecute,” the CPS said. The CPS said it had evidence for the other person to be charged but decided it wasn’t in the public interest to proceed with charges.
McGill added that the CPS is still deciding whether or not to press charges against two other former News of the World staff.
“Due to the ongoing review of evidence relating to the two remaining suspects in the case file we are unable to provide further reasoning for our decisions at this stage. We will of course consider what more can be said concerning these decisions in future,” the CPS added.
In total, more than 60 journalists were arrested related to hacking, the Press Gazette noted.
Last month, Andy Coulson was found guilty of phone hacking. Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks was found not guilty. Coulson was sentenced to 18 months in prison.