36 Facts About Andy Coulson

Andrew Edward Coulson was born on 21 January 1968 and is an English journalist and political strategist.

Andy Coulson was the editor of the News of the World from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to illegal phone-hacking.

Andy Coulson subsequently joined David Cameron's personnel as communications director, until announcing his departure on 21 January 2011 because of continued media coverage of the phone-hacking affair.

Andy Coulson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service on 8 July 2011 in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking.

Andy Coulson was detained and charged with perjury by Strathclyde Police on 30 May 2012 in relation to evidence he had given in the trial of Scottish politician Tommy Sheridan in 2010, and cleared on 3 June 2015.

In June 2014 at the Old Bailey, Andy Coulson was found guilty of a charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails.

Andy Coulson was sentenced on 4 July 2014 to 18 months in prison.

Andy Coulson was tried over charges that he committed perjury in the evidence he gave in HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan in 2010.

Andy Coulson attended Beauchamps High School, a secondary school and sixth form college, from 1979 to 1986.

Andy Coulson's parents moved from their Basildon council house to nearby Wickford during his childhood.

Andy Coulson started work at 18 as a junior reporter on the Basildon Echo in 1986.

Andy Coulson hired Dominic Mohan, who was later promoted to editor.

Andy Coulson became deputy editor of the News of the World, the Sunday sister paper of The Sun, in 2000.

Andy Coulson resigned on 26 January 2007 over the News of the World phone hacking affair which would several weeks later see the jailing for four months of the paper's Royal correspondent Clive Goodman.

The judgement singled out Andy Coulson for making "bullying" remarks in an email to Driscoll.

Andy Coulson became the Conservative Party's director of communications on 9 July 2007.

In July 2011 questions were raised about Andy Coulson's security vetting at Number Ten.

Andy Coulson had not been subjected to the highest level of vetting, "developed vetting", allowing unrestricted access to top secret material.

Andy Coulson's predecessors had had the highest level of vetting, as did his successor and his deputy.

In January 2016 Andy Coulson launched a new corporate PR agency offering communications strategy services in partnership with Henry Chappell, Andy Coulson Chappell.

In March 2017, Andy Coulson Chappell was awarded a contract by the Telegraph Media Group to improve the standing of the company's publications, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

On 1 September 2010 The New York Times printed new allegations from former News of the World reporters alleging that Andy Coulson had "actively encouraged" reporters to illegally intercept voicemail messages, and that he "was present during discussions about phone hacking".

The source alleged that Andy Coulson had personally listened to messages obtained through phone hacking.

Andy Coulson was a witness in HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan, where he denied under oath that he had any knowledge of phone hacking at the News of the World, or that he knew Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective at the centre of controversy.

The Guardian reported on 7 July 2011 that Andy Coulson was to be arrested the following day, along with a senior journalist whom the paper refused to name.

In June 2014, Andy Coulson was found guilty of one charge of conspiracy to intercept voicemails and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison on 4 July 2014.

On 21 November 2014, Andy Coulson was released from prison having served less than five months of his 18-month prison sentence.

Andy Coulson was to face a retrial, together with the News of the Worlds former royal editor Clive Goodman, after the jury failed to agree a verdict on two other charges of conspiring to cause misconduct in public office in relation to the alleged purchase of confidential royal phone directories in 2005 from a palace police officer.

On 17 April 2015, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Andy Coulson's retrial was to be scrapped, along with that of Goodman and the trials of seven other journalists.

Andy Coulson was charged with having committed perjury during the trial in 2010 of Tommy and Gail Sheridan.

Andy Coulson was scheduled to stand trial in April 2015 but the trial was postponed to 11 May 2015 because of the general election.

The judge added that it was for him, and not the jury, to decide on this aspect of the case and that the Crown's legal submissions had failed to satisfy him that Andy Coulson's evidence had been sufficiently relevant to the Sheridan trial.

Andy Coulson added that the case against him had been a "waste of money".

Andy Coulson was portrayed by Andrew Bone in the 2015 Channel 4 television film Coalition.

Andy Coulson was name-checked by Alan Partridge in an episode of This Time with Alan Partridge during an introduction to a segment about law and order.

In October 2013, it was revealed that Andy Coulson had had an affair with Rebekah Brooks that lasted from 1998 to 2007.