This list of persons arrested in phone-hacking scandal is a chronological listing of individuals arrested in conjunction with the illegal acquisition of confidential information by employees and other agents of news media companies referred to as the "phone hacking scandal." Dates indicate approximately when each arrest was made. The police investigation ("Operation") under which each arrest was made is shown in parentheses.
Background In 2004, ten arrests were made under Operation Nigeria following placement of a police listening device in the office of private investigator Jonathan Rees and a subsequent raid on the home of Stephen Whittamore. Recorded conversations and seized documents established that Paul Marshall, a former civilian communications officer based at Tooting police station in London, provided confidential information to Alan King, a retired police officer, who passed it along to private investigator John Boyall, who in turn gave it to private investigator Stephen Whittamore, who in turn sold it to agents of national press organizations. All were convicted of crimes.
In 2006, three arrests were made as a result of the Royal Household/Goodman Inquiry into illegal interception of phone messages of members of the Royal household by Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire. Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to crimes.
In September 2009, Metropolitan Police Service Assistant Commissioner John Yates testified before the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee that "there remain now insufficient grounds or evidence to arrest or interview anyone else and...no additional evidence has come to light." In 2011, however, investigations renewed in response to public disclosures from the press. These resulted in many additional arrests that included law enforcement officers, public officials and former editors and executives of news organizations.
As of mid-October 2012, over 100 people had been arrested since 1999 relating to illegal acquisition of confidential information. All but 10 of these were arrested or rearrested since police investigations were renewed in 2011. In some cases, a single individual was arrested more than once or arrested in conjunction with more than one police operation.
09 Operation Nigeria (confidential information) 03 Royal Household/Goodman Inquiry (phone hacking) 25 Operation Weeting (phone hacking) 52 Operation Elveden (computer hacking) 16 Operation Tuleta (bribery, corruption) 03 Operation Rubicon (phone hacking, breach of data protection and perjury in Scotland) 04 No named police operation -08 Adjustment for arrests included under more than one operation (e.g. one person arrested for both Weeting and Elveden)
104 Total people arrested
Of these arrests, at least 40 have been current or former journalists, 21 at The Sun, 16 at News of the World, 2 at the Mirror, 1 at The Times, and another from an unnamed newspaper.
Arrested Neville Thurlbeck; (1999) arrested for allegedly bribing a police officer and for conspiracy. Prosecution alleged Thurlbeck paid Detective Con Farmer to supply information on people whose details were kept on a confidential police computer. (The arrest was not attributed to a specific police operation.) (5 April 2011) arrested again; chief reporter at News of the World; suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages (Weeting #2) Richard Farmer; (1999) police officer arrested on suspicion of taking a bribe to supply information on people whose details were kept on a confidential police computer. (The arrest was not attributed to a specific police operation.) John Boyall; (2004) private investigator (Nigeria #1) Steve Whittamore; (2004) private investigator (Nigeria #2) Alan King; (2004) retired police officer (Nigeria #3) Paul Marshall; (2004) former civilian communications officer (Nigeria #4) John Gunning (2005) private investigator (Nigeria #5) Christopher Dawse (2005) private investigator (Nigeria #6) Mark Maskell (2005) private investigator (Nigeria #7) Andrew Lyle (2005) private investigator (Nigeria #8) Paul Jones aka Taff Jones (2005) private investigator (Nigeria #9) Clive Goodman; (8 August 2006 & 8 July 2011) former royal correspondent for News of the World; suspicion of corruption (Royal #1) & (Elveden #2) Glenn Mulcaire; (8 August 2006) private investigator (7 December 2011) arrested again on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice (Royal #2) & (Weeting #14) David Craig; (August 2006) editor of The Weekly News (Royal #3) Ian Edmondson; (5 April 2011) former news editor at News of the World; suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and unlawful interception of voicemail messages (Weeting #1) James Weatherup; (14 April 2011) assistant news editor at News of the World arrested on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting communications (Weeting #3) Terenia Taras; (23 June 2011) freelance journalist who contributed stories to the News of the World; suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications (Weeting #4) The Crown Prosecution Service announced on 24 July 2012 that charges would not be pursued due to insufficient evidence. Laura Elston; (27 June 2011) worked for the Press Association as royal correspondent; arrested on suspicion of phone hacking "Has been told that she has been dropped from the inquiry and will face no further action. (Weeting #5)" Andy Coulson; (8 July 2011) former Chief Press Secretary to David Cameron and former News of the World editor; suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications (Weeting #6) & (Elveden #1) Arrested again (30 May 2012) by Strathclyde Scotland police on suspicion of committing perjury before the high court in Glasgow under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. It is alleged that perjury was committed during the 2010 trial of Tommy Sheridan at which Coulson denied having ever heard of Glenn Mulcaire and denied knowledge of phone hacking. (Rubicon #1) 63-year-old man; (8 July 2011) arrested and bailed Arrested "on suspicion of corruption allegations contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906." (Elveden #3) Neil Wallis; (14 July 2011) former News of the World executive editor; taken for questioning on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications (Weeting #7) Rebekah Brooks; (17 July 2011) former CEO of News International, former editor of The Sun and former editor for News of the World; suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption, i.e., illegal payments to police (13 March 2012) arrested again, this time on suspicion of perverting the course of justice (Weeting #8 & Elveden #4) Stuart Kuttner; (2 August 2011) former managing editor of the News of the World; suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and on suspicion of corruption (Weeting #9) & Elveden #5) Greg Miskiw; (10 August 2011) former News of the World news editor; suspicion of unlawful interception of communications and conspiring to intercept communications (Weeting #10) James Desborough; (18 August 2011) former News of the World Los Angeles-based, Hollywood US editor; suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 (Weeting #11) Dan Evans; (19 August 2011) former reporter for News of the World arrested on suspicion of phone hacking (Weeting #12) 51-year-old man; (19 August 2011) Police Detective at Metropolitan Police Service; "on suspicion of misconduct in public office over alleged unauthorised leaks from the Operation Weeting phone-hacking inquiry". (The arrest was not attributed to a specific police operation.) Has not been charged but has been suspended. Ross Hall; (2 September 2011) a.k.a. Ross Hindley, former reporter for News of the World who reportedly transcribed hacked voicemails included in the "For Neville" email. Arrested "on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages and perverting the course of justice" (Weeting #13) The Crown Prosecution Service announced on 24 July 2012 that charges would not be pursued due to insufficient evidence. Raoul Simons; (7 September 2011) deputy football editor of The Times, "on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977" (Weeting #15) The Crown Prosecution Service announced on 24 July 2012 that charges would not be pursued due to insufficient evidence. Jamie Pyatt; (4 November 2011) district editor of The Sun; arrested in conjunction with Operation Elveden "on suspicion of corruption allegations in contravention of section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906." (Elveden #6) 52-year-old man; (11 November 2011) arrested in Milton Keynes regarding alleged computer hacking by the press (Tuleta #1) Bethany Usher; (30 November 2011) Former journalist with News of the World on suspicion of intercepting voicemail messages. Cleared and released with Scotland Yard saying no further action would be taken. (Weeting #16) Lucy Panton; (15 December 2011) former crime editor of News of the World believed to have been arrested in relation to alleged payments to police officers (Elveden #7) 52-year-old woman; (21 December 2011) serving police officer, believed to be a royal protection officer arrested regarding possibly receiving payments from journalists (Elveden #8) Cheryl Carter (6 January 2012) personal assistant to former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks; arrested in relation to phone hacking on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice (Weeting #17) Dave Cook; (10 Jan 2012) Met Detective Chief Superintendent arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and violations of the Data Protection Act 1998 in conjunction with an IPCC investigation. Cook and his family were reportedly the target of News of the World surveillance while he was investigating the Daniel Morgan murder. (Elveden #9) 29-year-old man; (28 January 2012) a Police Constable arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #10) Mike Sullivan; (28 January 2012) crime editor of The Sun; arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #11) Graham Dudman; (28 January 2012) former managing editor of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in public office and conspiracy (Elveden #12) Fergus Shanahan; (28 January 2012) executive editor of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #13) Chris Pharo; (28 January 2012) news desk executive of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #14) Geoff Webster; (11 February 2012) deputy editor of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #15) John Kay; (11 February 2012) chief reporter of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #16) John Edwards; (11 February 2012) picture editor of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #17) Nick Parker; (11 February 2012) chief foreign correspondent for The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy (Elveden #18) Arrested again (30 July 2012) in conjunction with gathering of data from stolen mobile phones (Tuleta #8) John Sturgis; (11 February 2012) deputy news editor of The Sun arrested on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and conspiracy ((Elveden #19)