Former Murdoch exec Brooks faces court

(ROUGH CUT ONLY- (no reporter narration)

Former newspaper executive Rebekah Brooks, the woman at the heart of a scandal shaking Rupert Murdoch's media empire and the British government, appears in court on at the opening of her prosecution on charges of hiding evidence from police.

Brooks, who is close to Murdoch and was friends with successive British prime ministers, resigned as chief executive of Murdoch's British newspaper group in July 2011 over revelations of phone-hacking by reporters at one of her papers.

The phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World Sunday tabloid, which Murdoch abruptly shut down last July to try and limit the damage, set off a chain of events that have dominated the British news agenda for a year and are still playing out.

More than 50 journalists and public officials have been arrested on suspicion of hacking or corrupt relationships, and a public inquiry has exposed ties too close for comfort between Murdoch's inner circle and the men at the top of government.