Andy Coulson, British Prime Minister David Cameron's former media chief, today denied ever being party to phone hacking when he was the editor of Rupert Murdoch's scandal-hit erstwhile tabloid 'News of the World'.
On his second day in the witness box at the ongoing phone hacking trial at the Old Bailey court here, Coulson said he was aware "in vague terms" of the possibility of voicemail interceptions before 2002 but considered it "lazy journalism".
In the spring of 2002, when the now-defunct Sunday tabloid hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, Coulson said he did not know that phone hacking was illegal.
He said he knew nothing of the Dowler voicemail interception, the revelation of which ultimately led to the closure of the tabloid in July 2011.
Asked what he would have thought about phone hacking had he been aware of it, Coulson said: "I would have thought it was intrusive, a breach of privacy, and I also would have thought it was lazy journalism.
"My attitude was formed by the people I'd worked for and the kind of reporter that I was. The people I worked for, and the reporter I was, weren't interested in that kind of behaviour."
Coulson edited the News of the World from 2003 until 2007. He also served as Cameron's director of communications until 2011, earning him the unofficial title of spin doctor.
He resigned from the post soon after allegations of phone-hacking at Britain's major tabloid offices hit the headlines.
Both Coulson and colleague Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, deny involvement in a phone hacking conspiracy at the 'News of the World'.
The prosecution claims that the pair were aware that the voicemail messages of murdered Surrey schoolgirl Dowler were hacked while she was still missing in 2002.
The jury of eight women and three men heard extensive evidence of how the tabloid initially published excerpts from her voicemail messages which were removed from later editions, when the story was also placed further back in the paper.
Coulson is the last of seven defendants, who deny all charges against them, to give evidence.
