Third News of World journalist arrested over phone hacking
A News of the World senior reporter has been arrested by detectives investigating the phone-hacking scandal.
James Weatherup, who has also worked as a news editor with the Sunday tabloid and retains the title, is being questioned at a London police station, although News of the World has yet to confirm his arrest and were not available for comment.
The journalist becomes the third person arrested since the Metropolitan Police reopened their inquiry into claims that staff at the newspaper hacked into the voice messages of celebrities and politicians. Neville Thurlbeck, 50, and Ian Edmondson, 42, were held by earlier this month and have been released on police bail to return in September.
Weatherup was arrested by Scotland Yard’s Operation Weeting team on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages. A police spokesman said a 55-year-old man was arrested at 8am and taken to a London police station.
“He remains in custody for questioning after being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to unlawfully intercept communications,” he added.
“The Operation Weeting team is conducting the new investigation into phone-hacking. It would be inappropriate to discuss any further details regarding this case at this time.”
Last week, eight people who had made claims against the News of the World, including actress Sienna Miller and former culture secretary Tessa Jowell, received apologies from the newspaper.
Weatherup was news editor at the News of the World for about 18 months from 2004, and was an executives under the then editor, Andy Coulson, who resigned as David Cameron’s director of communications earlier this year.
Weatherup, who refers to himself as a crisis management specialist in his Linkedin profile, is a veteran of tabloid journalism, having worked for a quarter of a century at red-tops including the Sunday Mirror, the Sunday People, the Sun and the Daily Star.
Recently, Weatherup was partly responsible for publishing video of boxer Ricky Hatton allegedly snorting cocaine and exposing Tory MP Mike Weatherley’s wife as having worked as a prostitute.