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Phone hacking: two current Sun staff among six new arrests Six ex-NoW journalists arrested in new phone hacking inquiry
(about 11 hours later)
Six former News of the World journalists, two of whom now work for the Sun, have been arrested by Scotland Yard officers investigating a new line of inquiry in relation to phone hacking. Six former News of the World features and showbusiness journalists, two of whom now work for the Sun, have been arrested by Scotland Yard officers investigating a new phone-hacking conspiracy at the paper.
In a dramatic new twist to the phone-hacking scandal on Wednesday morning, the Metropolitan police said in a statement that it had identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages by three men and three women that is alleged to have taken place between 2005 and 2006. In a dramatic twist to the phone-hacking scandal morning, police said they had identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages by three men and three women that is alleged to have taken place between 2005 and 2006.
All of them are journalists or former journalists, the Met said, and all but one of them were detained in London. Those arrested are understood to include the paper's former showbusiness columnist Rav Singh. The two Sun journalists arrested are understood to be the editor of the paper's Fabulous magazine and its northern features editor. Rachel Richardson, Fabulous magazine editor, was taken to a London police station, while the Sun's northern features editor, Jane Atkinson, was detained in Cheshire.
Those arrested were a 46-year-old man in Wandsworth, a 45-year-old man in Wandsworth, a 39-year-old man in Greenwich, a 39-year-old woman in Cheshire, a 33-year-old woman in Islington and a 40-year-old woman in Lambeth. Both were being questioned in connection with an alleged conspiracy to intercept telephone messages between 2005 and 2006, when they worked on the News of the World.
They are being interviewed at police stations in London and Cheshire and their homes are being searched. The remaining two arrested on Wednesday are understood to be Matt Nixson, a former features journalist who spent five years at the News of the World, and Polly Graham, a former showbusiness journalist on the tabloid.
"Detectives on Operation Weeting have identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept telephone voicemails by a number of employees who worked for the now defunct News of the World newspaper," the Met said. Five of the six people arrested were released on police bail later on Wednesday until a date in mid-May pending further inquiries.
The Met added that the alleged victims of the hacking were not previously notified, confirming that it was "part of the new lines of inquiry". Announcing the arrests, the Met said they came about "as part of the new lines of inquiry" being investigated by Scotland Yard: "This suspected conspiracy is believed to have taken place primarily during 2005 to 2006. It is separate from the alleged conspiracy already being investigated by Operation Weeting in which a number of people have been charged."
"In due course officers will be making contact with people they believe have been victims of the suspected voicemail interceptions," the Met said. An internal message has been sent to News International employees confirming that two of those arrested are journalists working for the Sun. The pair were provided with lawyers by the company.
None of those arrested have been arrested before. The arrests bring the number of people, including police officers and other public officials, detained in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that closed the News of the World in July 2011 to more than 100. The number of Sun journalists arrested has now risen to 24.
Mike Darcey, chief executive of Sun publisher News International, emailed staff to confirm the arrests. He told colleagues: "As always, I share your concerns about these arrests and recognise the huge burden it places on our journalists in the daily challenge of producing Britain's most popular newspaper. I am extremely grateful to all of you who succeed in that mission despite these very challenging circumstances." The arrests came as a shock to News International, which recently announced it was about to close its private compensation scheme for phone-hacking victims.
More details soon .... Jules Stenson, one of the most senior of the journalists detained, is currently working at the celebrity PR agency AOB. Nixson worked with Stenson as head of features on the NoW before switching briefly to the Sun and is now working for the Daily Mail. Singh, who had a high profile showbusiness column in the paper was also its assistant showbiz editor and has since moved into TV production. Graham left the paper in early 2005 and is now a freelance writer and columnist.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@guardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". Richardson, a former showbiz and digital editor on the News of the World, was appointed editor of Fabulous magazine in January 2011, when it was still a supplement of the Sunday title. Fabulous was moved to the Sun after the NoW closed at the height of public outrage over the phone-hacking scandal in July 2011. Atkinson was the chief features writer for the News of the World before moving to the Sun as its northern features editor.
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