London ( CNN ) -- The jury in the phone hacking trial of former newspaper editor and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been discharged after it could not reach a verdict on the final charges in the case , a court official said Wednesday . Former News of the World editor Coulson was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to hack phones between 2000 and 2006 . But the jury was not able to reach a decision Wednesday on two charges each of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office against Coulson and the paper 's former royal editor , Clive Goodman . The court said that a decision on a retrial for these charges would be made Monday . Another of Rupert Murdoch 's former newspaper chiefs , Rebekah Brooks , was unanimously cleared of all charges Tuesday after the eight-month trial at the Old Bailey court . Shortly before the jury was discharged , the judge in the case , John Saunders , issued an unusual rebuke to Prime Minister David Cameron and `` a large number of politicians from all parties '' for commenting on the case after the partial verdicts Tuesday . `` I consider that what has happened is unsatisfactory so far as justice and the rule of law are concerned , '' Saunders said in his ruling . `` The press in court have been extremely responsible in their reporting of this case but when politicians regard it as open season , one can not expect the press to remain silent . '' The ruling followed an application for the jury to be discharged on the basis that it was no longer possible for Coulson and Goodman to have a fair trial because of those comments . But the judge said he had decided not to discharge the jury on those grounds . `` I am satisfied that the jury will continue to try Mr. Coulson and Mr. Goodman on the evidence that they have heard in court and solely on that evidence , '' he said . A spokesman for the Prime Minister 's office said that Cameron had taken the `` best legal advice '' before giving a statement Tuesday . Cameron : 'Wrong decision ' Speaking before the House of Commons on Wednesday , Cameron repeated the apology he 'd made a day earlier for hiring Coulson as his director of communications in 2007 . `` I am sorry , this was the wrong decision , but I think it 's right that we 've had a public inquiry in this country , and it 's right that we have proper investigations , '' he said . `` Yesterday once again showed that no one is above the law in our country . '' Public and political outrage over the hacking revelations led to the closure of the 168-year-old News of the World paper and the setting up of a public inquiry to examine journalistic ethics , known as the Leveson Inquiry , as well as a police investigation . In a statement Wednesday , Cressida Dick , the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner who oversaw the investigation , said it had been `` complex and challenging '' -- and that officers involved had been aware of the `` sensitivities '' of investigating a national newspaper and confidential journalistic material . `` This investigation has never been about an attack on press freedom but one to establish whether any criminal offenses had been committed , to establish who was responsible for committing them and to bring them to justice . The victims deserved no less , '' she said . `` Along with the verdicts , I hope this will give some comfort to the many victims that justice has been served . '' The Metropolitan Police investigation into phone hacking , which was launched in January 2011 and dubbed Operation Weeting , identified 5,500 victims . Of those , 3,500 have been contacted , a police statement said . The investigation involved sifting through millions of e-mails , tens of thousands of documents , other data communications and financial transactions , it said . Murdered schoolgirl . Tuesday 's verdicts came three years after it was revealed that journalists on News of the World hacked the voice mail of then-missing teenager Milly Dowler in 2002 , raising hopes that she was alive and checking messages , when in fact she had been murdered . At the time the schoolgirl 's voice mail was intercepted , Brooks was editor of Britain 's top-selling News of the World , and Coulson was her deputy . After Coulson succeeded her as editor , Brooks edited The Sun newspaper , and she later became chief executive of the parent company , News International -- now known as News UK . Coulson resigned as News of the World editor in 2007 after its then-royal editor , Goodman , and a private investigator , Glenn Mulcaire , were jailed for hacking into voice-mail messages left for royal aides . Coulson denied any wrongdoing and later became Cameron 's director of communications . The former editor resigned from his Downing Street position in 2011 as coverage of the phone hacking scandal broadened . 'Wrongdoing occurred ' Besides a charge of conspiracy to hack voice mails , Brooks also was accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice , as was her husband , Charlie Brooks , and her former personal assistant , Cheryl Carter . All three were cleared of those charges , the Press Association reported , as was former News International head of security Mark Hanna . Retired managing editor Stuart Kuttner was cleared of conspiracy to hack phones . Five people pleaded guilty to phone hacking charges before the case came to trial , the police said . They were Mulcaire , Neville Thurlbeck , Greg Miskiw , James Weatherup and Daniel Evans . News UK , the UK newspaper publishing arm of Murdoch 's News Corp. , said in a statement : `` We said long ago , and repeat today , that wrongdoing occurred , and we apologized for it . We have been paying compensation to those affected and have cooperated with investigations . '' The publisher said it was making changes to ensure this kind of wrongdoing did not recur and that it supported a new UK press watchdog expected to start work later this year . CNN 's Peter Wilkinson and Lindsay Isaac contributed to this report .
NEW : ` ` I hope this will give some comfort to the many victims , '' says senior police officer . Jury discharged after failing to reach final verdicts against Andy Coulson and ex-royal editor . Court to decide Monday if there will be a retrial on remaining charges . Comment: