GQ magazine guilty of contempt over coverage of phone hacking trial

GQ magazine publishers Conde Nast have been found guilty of contempt of court over their coverage of the News of the World phone hacking trial.

Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, said an article entitled 'The Court Without A King' could have suggested to jurors that newspaper owner Rupert Murdoch either directed or knew about hacking.

The piece, by Michael Wolff, appeared in the magazine's April 2014 edition when the case had been already running at the Old Bailey for three months.

Lawyers for the men's magazine argued it combined "commentary, opinion, speculation and whimsy" and "toys with possibilities, rather than makes assertions".

But Lord Thomas ruled it was "seriously prejudicial" and could have created "a substantial risk" of an unfair trial for Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson and other employees of the newspaper.

The case was brought to court by the Attorney General, represented by Andrew Caldecott QC.

At an earlier hearing, Mr Caldecott said: "The thrust of the piece was that Mr Murdoch, proprietor of News International, was, or probably was, implicated in voicemail interception and that he should have been prosecuted."

The article referred to Brooks having received a £10.8 million settlement from Murdoch.

It also suggested the reason the defence did not wish to rely on Mr Murdoch's involvement was because he was paying the defence costs.

Mr Caldecott said there was a clear implication in the story that the defence had a "hidden agenda" of protecting Mr Murdoch's interests and concealing his involvement.

He added members of the jury had not been told about defence funding or the alleged settlement and they were irrelevant to the trial.

A hearing will be held at a later date to determine what penalty should be imposed on the men's magazine.