Ex-tabloid editor Coulson faces USD 234,000 phone hacking bill

London, Jul 23: A former tabloid editor who also served as British Prime Minister David Cameron's communications chief has been ordered to pay 150,000 pounds (USD 234,000) toward the costs of his trial for phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World.

Prosecutors had asked for Andy Coulson to pay 750,000 pounds. Judge John Saunders said Coulson's "financial situation and that of his family has been seriously affected" by his legal woes, but he remained capable of earning a good living.

He gave Coulson three years to pay the costs. Coulson was jailed last year for conspiring to eavesdrop on the phones of people in the public eye. He was released in November. Revelation of the phone hacking in 2011 led owner Rupert Murdoch to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World.

AP