London: The police probing the phone-
hacking issue on Tuesday arrested Stuart Kuttner, former managing
editor of the now defunct News of the World tabloid of media
Mogul Rupert Murdoch, marking the 11th arrest in the case.
Kuttner, 70, apparently did not know he was going to
be taken into custody when he arrived by appointment with his
solicitor at a police station in London at 11 am today to
answer questions about the phone-hacking scandal.
As per normal practice, Scotland Yard has not released
the name of the arrested person, but according to Sky News and
The Guardian, he is Stuart Kuttner, who was a leading figure
in the News of the World until 2009.
Kuttner was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to
intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption.
Rebekah Brooks, former editor of the News of the
World, was also arrested under the same charges.
Kuttner resigned as the managing editor in 2009, after
playing a leading role in the tabloid's 'Sarah's Law'
campaign, which sought to change the law so parents can be
told when registered sex offenders move into their area. He
was previously news editor at the London Evening Standard.
Police from both Operation Weeting, the Metropolitan
police investigation into phone hacking, and Elveden, the
investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to
police, were reported to have been involved in the arrest.
The development is the latest in a scandal that has
already caused the closure of the 168-year-old News of the
World, and the resignation of two top police officers.
Others arrested and bailed included ex-editor Andy
Coulson, ex-assistant editor Ian Edmondson, ex-chief reporter
Neville Thurlbeck, journalists James Weatherup and Terenia
Taras, an unnamed 63-year-old man, and ex-royal editor Clive
Goodman.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, August 02, 2011, 19:02