The former CEO of News International, Rebekah Brooks, has been charged with three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Once a favourite executive of media baron Rupert Murdoch, Brooks was charged along with her husband, Charlie Brooks, and three others, including the company's head of security, Mark Hanna, a chauffeur, a production assistant, and a security consultant.

Brooks, a former editor of the News of the World and Sun tabloids, allegedly conspired to remove evidence and conceal documents and electronic equipment from Scotland Yard in connection with the notorious phone-hacking affair.

The charges relate to alleged incidents that took place in July 2011.

"We deplore this weak and unjust decision," Brooks and her husband said in a statement about the charges.

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