REBEKAH BROOKS, former News International chief executive and former editor of the Sunand the News of the Worldnewspapers, was among six people arrested by Scotland Yard detectives yesterday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, as part of the investigation into phone hacking.
Mrs Brooks was arrested at her home in Oxfordshire by detectives from Operation Weeting. Sources said that her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, was also arrested.
London’s Metropolitan police refused to confirm the names of those arrested, but said that a 43-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man had been held. News International and the lawyer for Mrs Brooks declined to comment on the reports.
Yesterday’s arrests took place between 5am and 7am at addresses in London, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Hertfordshire.
The police said a 39-year-old man was arrested in Hampshire, a 46-year-old man was arrested in west London, and a 48-year-old man was arrested at a business address in east London. All six are being interviewed at police stations.
Another of the men arrested is Mark Hanna, the director of group security at News International. A second of those arrested was described by News International sources as being a “non-editorial employee”, whose name was not released by the company.
Scotland Yard said in a statement: “A number of addresses connected to the arrests are being searched. Yesterday’s operation follows consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.”
Police said the arrests did not result from information passed to them by News Corporation’s management and standards committee.
The arrests form the biggest single swoop yet by police in the ongoing investigation into alleged voicemail interception. So far 23 people have been held under Operation Weeting, with two people released without charge.
Mrs Brooks was also previously arrested on July 17th last year on appointment at a London police station on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section1(1) Criminal Law Act 1977 and on suspicion of corruption allegations contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. The former Sunand News of the Worldeditor was held 48 hours after she resigned as chief executive of News International parent company of Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper titles.
News Corp, Murdoch’s media empire which owns the now-defunct News of the World Sunday tabloid at the centre of the investigations, declined to comment on the latest arrests.
The long-running saga has shaken News Corp and damaged the police and politicians from all major political parties, revealing extremely close ties between the media and the upper elements of the establishment.
The 168-year-old News of the Worldwas shut down in July at the height of the hacking scandal, while two of Britain's most senior police officers quit after being accused of failing to properly investigate the allegations.
The latest arrests could also bring further embarrassment to prime minister David Cameron, who finally admitted earlier this month he had ridden a horse given to the Brooks couple by the police.
Mr Cameron, who has sought to distance himself from a wealthy background seen as an electoral weakness, said he had been a friend of Charlie Brooks for more than 30 years. – ( Guardianservice, PA)