Woman arrested in Yorkshire over voicemail hacking

Freelance journalist Terenia Taras was detained just before 7am today at a residential address, Scotland Yard said.

She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept mobile phone voicemail messages and was being questioned at a police station in Yorkshire, said a spokesman.

Ms Taras is reported to be the former girlfriend of Greg Miskiw, a former News of the World assistant editor.

According to Google, she co-authored about three dozen stories for the News of the World over a period of nearly six years, and wrote for other tabloids including the Sunday Mirror.

Sources say she moved to Leeds from London several years ago.

Her arrest is part of Operation Weeting, a new investigation into phone hacking allegations involving the News of the World which was launched by the Metropolitan Police in January.

The paper’s former royal reporter Clive Goodman and private detective Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in 2007 for intercepting messages from members of the Royal household.

The new inquiry was set up following allegations that other famous people also had their messages intercepted.

Three News of the World journalists have been arrested since the new inquiry was launched.

News International said in a statement: “This morning’s events did not relate to a current employee or a former full-time member of staff of the News of the World.

“We have been co-operating fully with the police inquiry since our voluntary disclosure of evidence reopened the police investigation.

“Since then we have been determined to deal with these issues both on the criminal and civil side. In April we admitted liability in several civil cases and we are attempting to bring these to a fair resolution.”

Earlier this week football pundit Andy Gray became the latest celebrity to settle with the paper’s publishers, accepting £20,000 in damages for voicemail interceptions.

News Group Newspapers reached a similar agreement with actress Sienna Miller, who received £100,000 in damages.

Other high-profile figures who suspect that their phone messages were intercepted and have launched legal action include politicians John Prescott and George Galloway, actor Jude Law, comedian Steve Coogan, footballers Paul Gascoigne and Ryan Giggs and television presenter Ulrika Jonsson.

Last week former High Court judge Sir Charles Gray was appointed to oversee the compensation scheme set up by the News of the World’s publishers for victims of phone hacking.

The scheme aims to offer a fast and fair way for phone hacking victims to be compensated without having to go to court and incur legal costs.

Since Operation Weeting was launched, Scotland Yard has come under pressure to widen its investigation.

Former Labour cabinet member Lord Mandelson said earlier this month he had contacted the Met to ask them “what information they may hold from current or previous investigations”, adding: “It isn’t acceptable to keep pointing the finger at one newspaper when clearly the use of unlawful means of investigating was, or is, widespread.

“This is a bigger issue than the wrongdoing of one rogue investigator and that’s why this whole issue should be pursued more widely.”