Third News of World journalist arrested in phone hacking case

James Weatherup, who has also worked as a news editor with the Sunday tabloid, was arrested in the morning and taken for questioning at a London police station. He was later released and bailed to return in September.

Chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and assistant news editor Ian Edmondson were held earlier this month and were similarly bailed to return in September.

The latest arrest underlines renewed efforts by the police to get to grips with the scandal, after criticism of earlier efforts to investigate claims that staff at the top-selling newspaper hacked into the answerphone messages of celebrities and politicians.

Scotland Yard has endured repeated attacks over its handling of the original inquiry, which led to the conviction of News of the World Royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire in 2007. Goodman was jailed for four months and Mulcaire for six months after they admitted intercepting voicemail messages on Royal aides’ phones, including some left by Prince William.

The paper’s former editor, Andy Coulson, resigned as Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications in January as he admitted that the drip-drip of claims about illegal eavesdropping under his editorship was making his job impossible.

Days later the Met launched a fresh investigation, codenamed Weeting, after receiving “significant new information” from News International, the paper’s parent company.

Mr Coulson had resigned as the tabloid’s editor in 2007 saying he took “ultimate responsibility” for what had happened but he has always denied knowledge of allegations of widespread hacking at the paper. He was interviewed as a witness by detectives last November but not cautioned or arrested.

In February last year, a Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee report found no evidence Mr Coulson knew phone-hacking was taking place but said it was “inconceivable” that no one apart from Goodman was aware of it.

Since then, a series of allegations suggesting widespread hacking have emerged, many of which have been linked to civil claims being brought by celebrities who believed their phones had been hacked by the News of the World .

Last week, eight people who had made claims, including actress Sienna Miller and former Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, received apologies from the newspaper.

It has also emerged that News International has written to another nine claimants in the phone-hacking scandal, asking them to provide further evidence that journalists intercepted their voicemails.

Lord Prescott, the former Deputy Prime Minister, said the arrest was further evidence that News Corporation’s takeover of BSkyB should be delayed until the police inquiry is complete.

Meanwhile, former Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett warned that phone-hacking by journalists was not limited to the News of the World.

He said: “I’d like a proper police inquiry. It isn’t, incidentally, just News International.

“I think the experience I’m aware of from eight, six, five years ago is undoubtedly there’s more that’s going on that meets the eye.”

Former Tory leader Michael Howard said: “I think that what we need is proper enforcement of the criminal law. If people have broken the criminal law then they should be prosecuted in a rigorous way. That seems to be happening now and that should continue.”

Weatherup was detained 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 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.”