Former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British media empire Rebekah Brooks today denied trying to cover up facts around the phone hacking scandal.
The 45-year-old told the prosecution that she did not know about about the 92,000 pounds deal with private detective Glenn Mulcaire.
Prosecution lawyer Andrew Edis told Brooks: "What I am suggesting to you is, it is now perfectly clear the books were cooked to prevent anybody investigating or finding out what Mr Mulcaire was doing."
But the former chief executive of News International said: "I did not cook any books."
Justice Saunders intervened to ask Brooks whether she "wondered" what Mulcare might have been doing, that it might have been "a risk" that he had been hacking that this was "a possibility to rule out".
Brooks responded: "I didn't think it happened and I did not believe it happened."
The former editor of Murdoch's now-defunct 'News of the World' tabloid said the contract with Mulcaire had not been brought to her attention because it was "paid in relatively small weekly payments" and because the news desk "kept within their weekly spending limit".
Mulcaire was convicted of hacking phones in 2006, after Brooks had left the 'News of the World', the jury heard.
She denied conspiracy to hack phones, to commit misconduct in public office and to pervert the course of justice.
Brooks and six others are on trial over phone hacking scandal that shook the British media. They have denied any wrongdoing.
The former editor has told the Old Bailey court in London that she did not undertake any investigation into phone hacking when she became News International chief executive.
