Man held over hacking scandal

British police have arrested a former senior figure at Rupert Murdoch's News International group as part of their investigation…

British police have arrested a former senior figure at Rupert Murdoch's News International group as part of their investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World tabloid.

Police said a man (71) had been arrested on suspicion of corruption and conspiring to intercept communications after he arrived by appointment at a north London police station.

Sky News, part-owned by News Corp, named the man as Stuart Kuttner, a former managing editor of the News of the World.

There was no immediate comment from News International.

READ MORE

Detectives are investigating allegations that journalists illegally intercepted voicemail messages on mobile phones and also paid bribes to police in return for information.

The latest suspect was the 11th person to be arrested as part of an investigation that has shaken Britain's press, police and political leaders and forced a series of high profile resignations. One of those arrested has since been released without charge.

The News of the World, whose reporters were at the centre of the scandal, was closed last month after allegations that 4,000 phones, including that of a murdered schoolgirl, had been hacked.

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of the News of the World, also quit and was arrested last month.

London police chief Paul Stephenson and Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer, John Yates, have also resigned over criticism the police should have done more to investigate the hacking allegations.

The furore has also caused embarrassment for British prime minister David Cameron as his former media chief Andy Coulson has also been arrested. He was editor of the News of the World when a journalist on the paper was convicted of hacking the phones of aides to Britain's royal family in 2007.

Reuters