The husband of Rupert Murdoch's former British newspaper chief, Rebekah Brooks, said yesterday he was "mortified" he had embarrassed his wife by hiding material from police investigating phone hacking but denied lying to protect her.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, where he and his wife are on trial, Charlie Brooks said he had been stupid to hide computers and his pornography collection from detectives and had not realised that what he was doing might be a crime.

The couple are both charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice over the events of July 17, 2011, when Rebekah Brooks, who ran News International, was arrested by police over allegations linked to phone hacking and authorising corrupt payments to public officials.