Operation Weeting
Encyclopedia
Operation Weeting is a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011, under the Specialist Crime Directorate
of the Metropolitan Police Service
into allegations of phone hacking
in the News of the World phone hacking affair
. The operation is being conducted alongside Operation Elveden
, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta
, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World. All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Sue Akers
, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate
.
s royal editor, Clive Goodman
and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire
, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family
by accessing voicemail messages, an offence under section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
. On 26 January 2007, both Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to four and six months imprisonment respectively. On the same day, it was announced that Andy Coulson
had resigned as editor of the News of the World. In 2007, that appeared to be the end of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal
.
In July 2009, The Guardian
newspaper published a series of allegations that a culture of phone hacking went far beyond the single case of Goodman and Mulcaire's hacking of the royal household. It was alleged that a much wider range of people across different areas of public life, including the former deputy prime minister John Prescott
, the Manchester United
manager Alex Ferguson
, politicians Tessa Jowell
and Boris Johnson
, publicist Max Clifford
and even Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News of the Worlds sister paper The Sun. had been the victim of hacking ordered by the News of the World. The News of the World and its parent News Corporation
strongly denied the allegations, and called on The Guardian to share any evidence it had with the police. In the wake of the allegations, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Paul Stephenson asked the force's Assistant Commissioner
John Yates to review the original 2006 investigation in the light of any new evidence, with regards to potentially reopening the investigation. In a single 8-hour meeting, Yates decided not to take any further action.
In the wake of the police deciding not to instigate legal proceedings, several public figures who had allegedly been hacked began litigation proceedings against the News of the Worlds owner News International, and against the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Those who began legal action included the football agent Sky Andrew
, actress Sienna Miller
, actor Steve Coogan
, television presenter Chris Tarrant
and football pundit Andy Gray. In the course of one of these litigation proceedings, that brought by Sienna Miller, papers lodged in the High Court
suggested that Ian Edmondson
, a senior editor at the News of the World, was involved in work undertaken by Mulcaire. In the wake of this new evidence, News International group general manager Will Lewis
was tasked with reviewing any documents relating to the 2006 Goodman case within the company's records and files. This review led Lewis to also re-examine all documents held by the legal firm Harbottle & Lewis
, who had defended News International against an unfair dismissal case brought by Clive Goodman in 2007, in which he discovered questionable material. Lewis passed this material to a second legal firm, Hickman Rose, who in turn asked the former Director of Public Prosecutions
Ken Macdonald to examine the evidence and report his findings to the News International board. Macdonald's report found evidence of indirect hacking, breaches of national security and serious crime, which led Macdonald to recommend that the company immediately referred the matter to the police; News International did.
The Crown Prosecution Service announced an immediate review of the evidence collected during the Metropolitan Police's original investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, before the Metropolitan Police announced on 26 January 2011 that it was launching Operation Weeting, a new and fresh investigation into the entire phone hacking affair.
of the House of Commons recommended that additional resources be made available to the operation in order to speed up its progress; later the same day, the Metropolitan Police announced that the number of officers assigned to Weeting was to be increased to its current level of 60.
It is believed that around 3,000 people may have had their phones hacked, a figure that was confirmed by DAC Akers at an evidence session of the Home Affairs Select Committee
on 12 July 2011. At the same evidence session, Akers confirmed the police have contacted only 170 of the 3,870 people named in Glenn Mulcaire
's files to date. There were 11,000 pages of the evidence with 5,000 landline
phone numbers and 4,000 mobile phone numbers. on them inside the so-called "Glenn Mulcaire files".
During the investigations, documentation provided to Operation Weeting suggested that some police personnel may have accepted "inappropriate payments" from news organisations in return for classified information. As a result, the Metropolitan Police Service opened an additional investigation, Operation Elveden
, which is also being led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Akers.
, announced that he had requested that Durham police
carry out an independent review of the evidence collected by Operation Weeting. Hogan-Howe said that he had asked the team, lead by Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart, "to have a look at the inquiry to reassure us we are going in the right direction and I think we are."
Specialist Crime Directorate
The Specialist Crime Directorate is one of the main branches of the London Metropolitan Police Service. It deals with a wide range of criminality from murder to organised crime. Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick is currently the head of the directorate...
of the Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
into allegations of phone hacking
Phone hacking
Phone hacking is a term used to describe the practice of intercepting telephone calls or voicemail messages, often by accessing the voicemail messages of a mobile phone without the consent of the phone's owner...
in the News of the World phone hacking affair
News of the World phone hacking affair
The News International phone-hacking scandal is an ongoing controversy involving mainly the News of the World but also other British tabloid newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police...
. The operation is being conducted alongside Operation Elveden
Operation Elveden
Operation Elveden is a British police investigation. It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investigation.-Background:...
, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking, and Operation Tuleta
Operation Tuleta
Operation Tuleta is a British police investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of computer hacking, related to the News International phone hacking scandal.As of June 2011, it was reported to have 6 officers working for it...
, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World. All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Deputy assistant commissioner is a rank in London's Metropolitan Police Service between assistant commissioner and commander. It is equivalent to deputy chief constable in other British police forces and wears the same insignia: a pip above crossed tipstaves within a wreath.The rank was introduced...
Sue Akers
Sue Akers
Sue Akers, QPM, is a Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the British Metropolitan Police Service. As of 2011, she holds the post of Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks in the Specialist Crime Directorate within that force.She joined the force in 1976....
, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate
Specialist Crime Directorate
The Specialist Crime Directorate is one of the main branches of the London Metropolitan Police Service. It deals with a wide range of criminality from murder to organised crime. Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick is currently the head of the directorate...
.
Background
In August 2006, the News of the WorldNews of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
s royal editor, Clive Goodman
Clive Goodman
Clive Goodman is a former royal editor and reporter for the News of the World. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone messages involving members of the Royal Household.Goodman initially worked as a journalist on Nigel Dempster's gossip column in the...
and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire
Glenn Mulcaire
Glenn Mulcaire, born September 8, 1970, is a former professional footballer, latterly a private investigator. He has been closely associated with the News International phone hacking scandal. In January 2007 he was found guilty of illegally intercepting phone messages from Clarence House and...
, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
by accessing voicemail messages, an offence under section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications...
. On 26 January 2007, both Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to four and six months imprisonment respectively. On the same day, it was announced that Andy Coulson
Andy Coulson
Andrew Edward Coulson is an English journalist and political strategist.Coulson was the editor of the News of the World from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to illegal phone-hacking.He subsequently joined David Cameron's...
had resigned as editor of the News of the World. In 2007, that appeared to be the end of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal
News of the World royal phone hacking scandal
The News of the World royal phone hacking scandal was a scandal which developed in 2005 - 2007 around the interception of voice mail relating to the British Royal Family by a private investigator working for a News of the World journalist...
.
In July 2009, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper published a series of allegations that a culture of phone hacking went far beyond the single case of Goodman and Mulcaire's hacking of the royal household. It was alleged that a much wider range of people across different areas of public life, including the former deputy prime minister John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
, the Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
manager Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
, politicians Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell
Tessa Jowell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Formerly a member of both the Blair and Brown Cabinets, she is currently the Shadow Minister for the Olympics and Shadow Minister for London.-Early life:Tessa Jane...
and Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, publicist Max Clifford
Max Clifford
Maxwell Frank Clifford is an English publicist, considered the highest-profile and best-known publicist in the United Kingdom...
and even Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News of the Worlds sister paper The Sun. had been the victim of hacking ordered by the News of the World. The News of the World and its parent News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
strongly denied the allegations, and called on The Guardian to share any evidence it had with the police. In the wake of the allegations, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Paul Stephenson asked the force's Assistant Commissioner
Assistant Commissioner
Assistant commissioner is a rank used in many police forces across the globe. It is also a rank used in revenue administrations in many countries.-Australia:...
John Yates to review the original 2006 investigation in the light of any new evidence, with regards to potentially reopening the investigation. In a single 8-hour meeting, Yates decided not to take any further action.
In the wake of the police deciding not to instigate legal proceedings, several public figures who had allegedly been hacked began litigation proceedings against the News of the Worlds owner News International, and against the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Those who began legal action included the football agent Sky Andrew
Sky Andrew
Skylet Andrew , is English former Olympic and Commonwealth Games table tennis player for Great Britain, who was the first Black British sports agent.-Biography:...
, actress Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
, actor Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
, television presenter Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
and football pundit Andy Gray. In the course of one of these litigation proceedings, that brought by Sienna Miller, papers lodged in the High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
suggested that Ian Edmondson
Ian Edmondson
Ian Edmondson is a British tabloid journalist. He was the news editor at the News of the World. Edmondson was arrested by the Metropolitan police in April 2011 as part of Operation Weeting.-Career:...
, a senior editor at the News of the World, was involved in work undertaken by Mulcaire. In the wake of this new evidence, News International group general manager Will Lewis
William Lewis (journalist)
William Lewis is a British journalist who is a member of News Corporation's Management and Standards Committee. It is responsible for helping the police and other bodies find out the facts about the News of the World phone hacking scandal. The MSC is also charged with implementing new rules for...
was tasked with reviewing any documents relating to the 2006 Goodman case within the company's records and files. This review led Lewis to also re-examine all documents held by the legal firm Harbottle & Lewis
Harbottle & Lewis
Harbottle & Lewis is a law firm based in London, United Kingdom which advises clients across the media, communications and entertainment industries....
, who had defended News International against an unfair dismissal case brought by Clive Goodman in 2007, in which he discovered questionable material. Lewis passed this material to a second legal firm, Hickman Rose, who in turn asked the former Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
Ken Macdonald to examine the evidence and report his findings to the News International board. Macdonald's report found evidence of indirect hacking, breaches of national security and serious crime, which led Macdonald to recommend that the company immediately referred the matter to the police; News International did.
The Crown Prosecution Service announced an immediate review of the evidence collected during the Metropolitan Police's original investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, before the Metropolitan Police announced on 26 January 2011 that it was launching Operation Weeting, a new and fresh investigation into the entire phone hacking affair.
Scope
In its initial months of existence, Operation Weeting had around 45 officers working on it. In a report to Parliament on 20 July 2011, the Home Affairs Select CommitteeHome Affairs Select Committee
The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Remit:The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select Committees related to government departments: its terms of reference are to examine "the expenditure,...
of the House of Commons recommended that additional resources be made available to the operation in order to speed up its progress; later the same day, the Metropolitan Police announced that the number of officers assigned to Weeting was to be increased to its current level of 60.
It is believed that around 3,000 people may have had their phones hacked, a figure that was confirmed by DAC Akers at an evidence session of the Home Affairs Select Committee
Home Affairs Select Committee
The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Remit:The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select Committees related to government departments: its terms of reference are to examine "the expenditure,...
on 12 July 2011. At the same evidence session, Akers confirmed the police have contacted only 170 of the 3,870 people named in Glenn Mulcaire
Glenn Mulcaire
Glenn Mulcaire, born September 8, 1970, is a former professional footballer, latterly a private investigator. He has been closely associated with the News International phone hacking scandal. In January 2007 he was found guilty of illegally intercepting phone messages from Clarence House and...
's files to date. There were 11,000 pages of the evidence with 5,000 landline
Landline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
phone numbers and 4,000 mobile phone numbers. on them inside the so-called "Glenn Mulcaire files".
During the investigations, documentation provided to Operation Weeting suggested that some police personnel may have accepted "inappropriate payments" from news organisations in return for classified information. As a result, the Metropolitan Police Service opened an additional investigation, Operation Elveden
Operation Elveden
Operation Elveden is a British police investigation. It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investigation.-Background:...
, which is also being led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Akers.
Arrests
As of 30 November 2011, 17 people have been arrested as part of Operation Weeting They are:- Neville ThurlbeckNeville ThurlbeckNeville Thurlbeck is a British journalist who worked for the tabloid newspaper News of the World for 21 years. He reached the position of news editor before returning to the position of chief reporter. Thurlbeck was arrested in April 2011 as part of Operation Weeting.-Career:In 1998 Thurlbeck was...
[A], News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
chief reporter. Thurlbeck was arrested on 5 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications...
. Thurlbeck was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return in September. - Ian EdmondsonIan EdmondsonIan Edmondson is a British tabloid journalist. He was the news editor at the News of the World. Edmondson was arrested by the Metropolitan police in April 2011 as part of Operation Weeting.-Career:...
[B], former News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
News Editor. Edmondson was arrested on 5 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications...
. He was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return in September. - James WeatherupJames WeatherupJames Weatherup is an English newspaper journalist, news reporter and newspaper editor.After starting out in regional newspapers, he joined the News of the World, serving in two stints over 25 years for nine editors. In his first stint he rose to Chief reporter...
[C], a News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
assistant news editor. Weatherup was arrested on 14 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications...
. Weatherup was bailed later the same day, and is due to return in September. - Terenia Taras, freelance journalist. Taras was arrested and bailed on 23 June 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
. She is due to report back to a police station in October. - Laura Elston [E], a Press AssociationPress AssociationThe Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
royal correspondent. Elston was arrested on 27 June 2011 on suspicion of intercepting communications, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of communications...
, before being bailed to return in October. Elston's bail was cancelled on 18 July when she was informed that no further action would be taken against her. - Andy CoulsonAndy CoulsonAndrew Edward Coulson is an English journalist and political strategist.Coulson was the editor of the News of the World from 2003 until his resignation in 2007, following the conviction of one of the newspaper's reporters in relation to illegal phone-hacking.He subsequently joined David Cameron's...
, a former News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
editor and former Downing Street10 Downing Street10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
Communications Director. Coulson was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
, and of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906Prevention of Corruption Act 1906The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. Coulson was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return to police in October. - Clive GoodmanClive GoodmanClive Goodman is a former royal editor and reporter for the News of the World. He was arrested in August 2006 and jailed in January 2007 for intercepting mobile phone messages involving members of the Royal Household.Goodman initially worked as a journalist on Nigel Dempster's gossip column in the...
, a former News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
royal editor who had previously been jailed in January 2007 for intercepting voicemail messages of members of the royal householdRoyal HouseholdA Royal Household in ancient and medieval monarchies formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and his relations....
. Goodman was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906Prevention of Corruption Act 1906The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. He was bailed on the same day, and is scheduled to return in October. - An unidentified 63-year-old man who was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906Prevention of Corruption Act 1906The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. He was bailed the following day, and is due to return in October. - Neil WallisNeil WallisNeil John Wallis is a former newspaper editor in the United Kingdom.-Early life:Wallis was born in Lincolnshire. He attended Skegness Grammar School.-Journalism:...
, a former News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
deputy editor. Wallis was arrested on 14 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
. He was bailed on the same day to return in November. - Rebekah Brooks, News InternationalNews InternationalNews International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
chief executive and former News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
editor. Brooks was arrested on 17 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977Criminal Law Act 1977The Criminal Law Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It is mainly significant because it defines the offence of conspiracy in English law...
, and of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906Prevention of Corruption Act 1906The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. She was bailed that evening until October. - Stuart KuttnerStuart KuttnerStuart Kuttner is a former newspaper editor. He worked as the news editor for the London Evening Standard before joining the News of the World newspaper in 1980 first as a deputy editor, then as managing editor. He held the position for 22 years before stepping down from his post in 2009 and...
, former News of the World managing editor. Kuttner was arrested on 2 August 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. He was initially released under police bail until the end of the month but was taken into custody again on 30 August and bailed until an unspecified date in September. - Greg MiskiwGreg MiskiwGreg Miskiw is a former news editor of the defunct British tabloid newspaper the News of the World.-Mirror Group:During the 1980s Miskiw worked as a reporter for tabloid papers published by the Mirror Group. He was arrested by the Polish authorities for visa irregularities in 1981 whilst working...
, former News of the World news desk editor. Miskiw was arrested on 10 August 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. He was bailed the following day to return in October. - James DesboroughJames DesboroughJames Desborough started work at the London regional newspaper the Barking & Dagenham Post as a news reporter in 1994. The newspaper’s other famous past reporters include Phil Hall, who later became the editor of The News of The World....
, News of the World US editor. Desborough was arrested on 18 August 2011. - A 35 year old man believed to be Dan Evans, a former reporter for News of the World, was arrested on 19 August 2011.
- A 30 year old man, whom The Guardian identified as Ross Hall, a former reporter for News of the World who wrote under the pen name of Ross Hindley, was arrested on 2 September 2011. He was bailed the same day to return in mid-January 2012.
- A 35 year old man was arrested in an early morning raid on 7 September 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. He was bailed the same day until an unspecified date in October. The BBC identified the man as Raoul Simons, a journalist who worked for the Evening StandardEvening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
and later as the deputy football editor of The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. - A 31 year old woman was arrested on 30 November 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977. The media identifed her as Bethany Usher, a former journalist at News of the World and The PeopleThe PeopleThe People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
.
Independent review
On 15 September 2011, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Bernard Hogan-HoweBernard Hogan-Howe
Bernard Hogan-Howe, QPM is the present Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis . He was previously Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, an Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and more recently one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary.On 18 July 2011, the Home Secretary...
, announced that he had requested that Durham police
Durham Constabulary
Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of County Durham and the unitary authority of Darlington. The force covers the 2,232 km² of the county which has a resident population of 595,308. It is one of the smaller forces of the...
carry out an independent review of the evidence collected by Operation Weeting. Hogan-Howe said that he had asked the team, lead by Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart, "to have a look at the inquiry to reassure us we are going in the right direction and I think we are."
See also
- Operation ElvedenOperation ElvedenOperation Elveden is a British police investigation. It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investigation.-Background:...
- Operation TuletaOperation TuletaOperation Tuleta is a British police investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of computer hacking, related to the News International phone hacking scandal.As of June 2011, it was reported to have 6 officers working for it...
- Operation RubiconOperation RubiconOperation Rubicon is a Scottish police investigation into allegations of phone hacking, breach of data protection and perjury.The operation was initiated by a complaint from Tommy Sheridan's family solicitor, Aamer Anwar, including allegations of perjury, phone hacking and breach of data...
- Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)Operation Motorman was a 2003 investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office into allegations of offences under the Data Protection Act by the British press....
External links
- Operation Weeting collected news and commentary from The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- Statement from Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, 6 July 2011