This article is more than 1 year old

Journo bung probe cops cuff armed-forces bloke and wife

Suspects quizzed by police after 6am swoop

Met cops investigating allegations of corrupt payments to police and public officials arrested two suspects in Surrey this morning.

A 32-year-old woman was cuffed at her home in Chertsey at 6am BST, and her 42-year-old husband - who is a serving member of the armed forces - was nabbed at a separate address in Camberley half an hour later, officers from Scotland Yard said.

The pair were held as part of the Operation Elveden investigation into allegations of journalists bribing cops and public officials. This probe is running in tandem with the Met's Operation Weeting inquiry into alleged phone hacking by reporters and others working for media mogul Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper biz News International.

Scotland Yard said the arrests came after information was provided by News Corporation's management standards committee, which was set up in the wake of the phone hacking scandal at its publishing division, News International.

The Yard confirmed that the latest arrests bring the total number of suspects questioned under Op Elveden to 46 so far. Detectives said:

The man was arrested on suspicion of corruption, contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906, suspicion of misconduct in a public office, contrary to Common Law and suspicion of conspiracy to commit both offences contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977.

The woman was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit corruption and suspicion of conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office, both contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977.

The married couple are being quizzed at the same police station in Surrey.

Earlier this week, officers on the Op Elveden inquiry nicked and later bailed a prison officer on suspicion of the same allegations as today's arrest of the serving armed forces man.

On Wednesday, Scotland Yard, as part of its Op Weeting investigation, said it had charged 26-year-old security team leader Lee Sandell, of Westway in Caterham, Surrey, with allegations that he had conspired to pervert the course of justice.

The Met said in a statement:

Lee Sandell, Rebekah Brooks [ex-News International boss], Charles Brooks, Mark Hanna, Paul Edwards and Daryl Jorsling on a day between 15 July 2011 and 19 July 2011 conspired together, and with persons unknown, to do an act or series of acts which had a tendency to pervert the course of public justice, namely to conceal documents, computers and other electronic devices, from officers of the MPS who were investigating allegations of phone hacking and corruption of public officials in relation to the News of the World and The Sun newspapers, contrary to Sec 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Sandell is to appear before Westminster magistrates today. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like