Milly Dowler, British Prime Minister David Cameron,

PHOTO | AFP Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson leaves the Old Bailey in central London, on June 25, 2014.

What you need to know:

  • High-profile trial centred on paper’s efforts to hack the phones of royal family, politicians and celebrities
  • Mr Cameron said it had been the “wrong decision” to make Mr Coulson his media chief in 2007 but denied ignoring warnings about his activities at the tabloid, which Rupert Murdoch shut down in disgrace in July 2011.

LONDON

British Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to parliament on wednesday for hiring former News of the World editor Andy Coulson after his conviction for phone hacking, but faced fresh embarrassment as the trial judge rebuked him for speaking out about the case.

Mr Cameron said it had been the “wrong decision” to make Mr Coulson his media chief in 2007 but denied ignoring warnings about his activities at the tabloid, which Rupert Murdoch shut down in disgrace in July 2011.

Meanwhile, the eight-month phone hacking trial came to an end as jurors were sent home without reaching a verdict on two further charges against Mr Coulson alleging payments to police officers.

The judge at London’s Old Bailey reprimanded Mr Cameron for interference in his first apology for hiring Mr Coulson on Tuesday.

This came after the 46-year-old was found guilty of hacking but before a verdict had been reached on the bribery charges, raising the possibility that jurors could have been influenced.

Judge John Saunders said he had rejected a request by Mr Coulson’s defence lawyers to halt proceedings as a result, but said: “That does not mean that I am not concerned about what has happened in this case.”

Mr Coulson’s conviction swung the spotlight on Cameron’s decision to hire him just months after he resigned as News of the World editor in 2007 following the jailing of the paper’s royal editor and a private investigator for hacking.

Mr Coulson always denied knowing about the practice and the prime minister stuck by him for almost four years despite media reports to the contrary.

“I always said that if (Coulson’s) assurances turned out to be wrong I would apologise fully and frankly to this House of Commons and I do so today (Wednesday) from this despatch box. This was the wrong decision,” Mr Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

WILFUL NEGLIGENCE

Opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband said the charge against Mr Cameron was “not one of ignorance but one of wilful negligence”.

The high-profile trial centred on the News of the World’s efforts to hack the phones of Britain’s royal family, politicians, celebrities and victims of crime, including a murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl.

In a dramatic conclusion to one of the most expensive cases in British criminal history, Mr Coulson was found guilty of hacking but his fellow former editor and one-time lover Rebekah Brooks was cleared of all charges.

Mr Coulson will learn next week his sentence for hacking, which could be a jail term of up to two years, and whether prosecutors will seek a retrial on the bribery claims.

The hacking scandal prompted a judge-led inquiry into the ethics of Britain’s famously aggressive press, which made recommendations in 2012 for reforming the way it is governed.

However, the recommendations have yet to come into force following strong opposition by many newspapers, including the Murdoch press.

The sister of a prominent hacking victim, murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, used the end of the case to urge Mr Cameron to keep his promise to change the way newspapers are regulated.