An emotional Rebekah Brooks has given her first statement since she was acquitted of all phone-hacking charges, declaring she was "vindicated" by the unanimous verdicts of the jury.

With her husband, Charlie, by her side, and her voice breaking, Brooks tried to strike a note of contrition as she said she hoped she had learned some "valuable lessons" from the long trial.

But she declined to say anything about Andy Coulson, her successor as editor at the News of the World, although reporters repeatedly asked her what she thought of the guilty verdict against him. "I am innocent of the crimes I was charged with and I feel vindicated by the unanimous verdicts," the former editor of the Sun and the News of the World said to cameras and a press pack outside her home in central London.

"When I was arrested it was in the middle of a maelstrom of controversy, of politics and of comment. Some of that was fair but much of it was not, so I'm grateful to the jury," she said.

"It's been a time of reflection for me, I've learned some valuable lessons and hopefully I'm the wiser for it."

As the couple pushed through the media scrum to get into a waiting car, Charlie Brooks was asked if he had anything to say about the differing fate of Coulson. "I am very sad about it," he replied.

He added they had not heard from the prime minister – a friend of Charlie's from their Eton school days – since Tuesday's verdict.

In a short statement punctuated by shouted questions from the media, she also promised to support former colleagues who were facing criminal trials.

"Today my thoughts are with my former colleagues who face future trials and I'm going to do everything I can to support them as I know how anxious the times ahead are," she said.

Rebekah Brooks had been unable to say anything when she was cleared of all charges on Tuesday, on the instructions of the judge who was concerned about prejudicing the jury's continuing deliberations over Coulson, which ended 24 hours later.

On Thursday, she said she had little to add to the statement she made two years ago when she was charged. "Of course the last two years have been tough for us and those close to us, but more important they've been tough on everyone on all sides that have been close to this case. We've always tried to keep our troubles in perspective," she said.

"After all, we have a happy and healthy daughter, we have our brave and resolute mums who have been at court. We've had strong and unwaivering support from our friends and from our legal team." Charlie Brooks spoke first to say that he was "proud" of his wife and how she had coped with the eight-month trial.

He, too, said he had little to add to the statement he made two years ago, when he accused prosecutors of a "witch-hunt" against his wife.

He said: "The last 48 hours I've had to focus on being a racehorse trainer but actually I've very little to add to what we both said over two years ago when we were charged. Everything we said two years ago has proved to be true. Rebekah has been through an unprecedented investigation of an incredibly forensic and personal nature, the likes of which we've probably never seen."

The couple's remarks were made on the same day that Rupert Murdoch flew into London for a pre-arranged visit to his newspaper operation. He has given Rebekah Brooks unstinting support throughout the trial and has been in touch with her frequently on the phone.

It is highly likely they will meet, but away from the cameras as they will both be keen to avoid a repeat of the scene after the closure of the News of the World when he told the world's media that she was his "top priority".