Rebekah Brooks has told the phone-hacking trial she did not realise the practice was illegal when she was editor of the News of the World

Mrs Brooks said she "didn't think anybody, me included, knew it was illegal".

She told the Old Bailey she felt "shock and horror" after she discovered murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked.

Mrs Brooks, one of seven defendants on trial, denies four charges.

She said she was never asked to sanction the accessing of voicemails for a story during her time as editor of the newspaper.

"No journalist ever came to me and said 'We're working on so and so a story but we need to access their voicemail and we need to ask for my sanction to do it'," she said.

"Even though I didn't know it was illegal, I absolutely felt it was in the category of a serious breach of privacy."

Asked about her reaction to hearing the schoolgirl's phone had been targeted, the 45-year-old said: "Shock, horror, everything. I just think anyone would think that that was pretty abhorrent, so my reaction was that."

Mrs Brooks said she "didn't think anybody, me included, knew it was illegal".

I believe every word she's saying.