London ( CNN ) -- Rebekah Brooks was once feted as one of the rising stars of the British media : She was the youngest person ever to edit a national British newspaper , and made a stellar rise through the ranks of Rupert Murdoch 's media empire . She held the top job at News International , News Corp. 's British subsidiary , for two years after editing the country 's best-selling daily tabloid , The Sun , and its best-selling Sunday tabloid , News of the World . But following allegations of illegal eavesdropping by News of the World journalists when she was editor , she saw her fortunes fade . Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International in July 2011 amid public outrage over hacking allegations and was summoned by police the following week . It was the first time she was arrested and questioned by police investigating phone hacking claims . Brooks kept a low profile after her resignation but was ridiculed in the British press when it was revealed that London 's Metropolitan Police had lent her a retired police horse in 2008 . As politicians became engulfed in the scandal , with allegations that ministers acted improperly in their dealings with News Corp. , Prime Minister David Cameron -- a family friend of Brooks ' husband -- admitted he had ridden the horse . When Brooks appeared before the Leveson Inquiry into press standards in 2012 , she was grilled about her relationship with Britain 's current and former prime ministers and detailed her frequent contacts with Cameron in the run-up to the 2010 election . In October 2013 , Brooks was among seven people to go on trial for phone hacking . She denied all charges of conspiracy `` to intercept communications in the course of their transmission , without lawful authority , '' conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy to obstruct a police investigation . On June 23 , jurors found her not guilty of the charges , the UK 's Press Association news agency reported . Before she took the stand in February 2014 , the defense reminded the jury that Brooks was not on trial `` because she was the editor of a tabloid newspaper '' or for working for media baron Rupert Murdoch or for `` any political views she may hold '' or for `` the support newspapers she edited gave to one party or another . '' Rather , the defense said , her trial hinged on whether she knew about and endorsed a `` practice of phone hacking at News of the World during her editorship '' ; whether she had encouraged a Sun reporter to pay a public official ; and whether she had asked her husband , Charlie Brooks , and her personal assistant , Cheryl Carter , to `` get rid of things ... to cover up the practice of phone hacking or of paying public officials . '' Brooks denied any wrongdoing . Asked by her lawyer if she was ever asked to sanction the practice of phone hacking while editor of News of the World , from 2000 to 2003 , Brooks said : `` No . '' During the trial , prosecutors alleged that Brooks had a clandestine affair with co-accused Andy Coulson from 1998-2004 , which they argued showed the pair 's level of trust . Giving evidence , Brooks described her personal life as a `` car crash for many years , '' the Guardian newspaper reported . She denied there had been a long-standing affair but acknowledged there had been periods of physical intimacy . Coulson edited the News of the World from 2003 until 2007 , having served as Brooks ' deputy at the tabloid for three years before that . He went on to be David Cameron 's director of communications , resigning from his role with the prime minister in 2011 , when police launched a second investigation into newspaper eavesdropping . When Coulson gave evidence in April - with his wife watching from the public gallery - he said the affair `` should n't have happened , '' the BBC and Guardian newspaper reported . But he denied that it meant he and Brooks had shared sensitive stories , the outlets said . The revelations were seized on by UK media covering the case , with one newspaper - The Independent -- headlining its story `` The affair they did n't expose , '' a reference to the tabloid newspapers ' history of revealing other people 's cheating . In June , Coulson was found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones . Hard lessons learned . Brought up in Cheshire , northern England , in the 1970s , Brooks is said to have decided on a career in journalism at the age of 14 , beginning with a job as a `` tea girl '' at her local paper . In her late teens , she moved to Paris , where she is reported to have worked at architectural magazine L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui and studied at the Sorbonne . On her return to the UK , she worked in regional papers before making the move to Sunday tabloid News of the World in the late 1980s . Starting out as a secretary , Rebekah Wade -- her maiden name -- swiftly made her way up the editorial food chain , becoming deputy editor by the age of 27 . She tells of how , at a corporate golf day shortly after she was appointed , one senior executive ordered her to sew the buttons back on his shirt . Her response is not known . Sexism in the workplace aside , Brooks ' rise through the ranks continued . She was named deputy editor of the hugely popular Sun newspaper , the News of the World 's sister title , in 1998 . In 2000 , she returned to the News of the World , this time in the top job , becoming the youngest-ever editor of a national British paper . While editor of the weekly , Brooks argued for the creation of a U.S.-style `` Sarah 's Law , '' which would allow parents with young children to know about anyone convicted of child sex crimes living close to their homes . As part of the controversial campaign , which was inspired by the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne in July 2000 , Brooks took the decision to name and shame offenders in the pages of her paper . The lists sparked witch-hunts and riots , as communities across Britain tried to hound pedophiles out of their neighborhoods . It was condemned by police , but Brooks remains unrepentant . In a 2009 speech , she admitted the campaign was `` a blunt and contentious way of informing the public ... hard lessons were learned but I do n't regret the campaign for one minute . '' She married soap star Ross Kemp , famous for his hard-man role as Grant Mitchell in long-running British TV show `` Eastenders . '' In 2003 , she was promoted again , becoming editor of the Sun , a post she held until 2009 when she was handpicked for the role of News International chief executive by Rupert Murdoch . In the same year Brooks and Kemp divorced and she remarried horse trainer Charlie Brooks . The couple 's wedding party was attended by a host of big names , including the Murdoch clan ( Rupert , James and Elisabeth ) , the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown , and future-Prime Minister David Cameron . Brooks and Murdoch had been close for many years : before her downfall Rupert Murdoch was said to have treated Brooks like a daughter . Whether the relationship has survived the scandal remains unclear .
NEW : Rebekah Brooks has been cleared of all charges against her at a phone-hacking trial . The jury found that she had no knowledge about the illegal activities and did not know who was responsible for them. She became the youngest-ever editor of a national British newspaper in 2000 . Rupert Murdoch was said to have treated Brooks like a daughter .