Met police anti-corruption officers questioned Amelia Hill several days ago over an alleged leak
Credit: Michael Bruntonspall on Flickr. Some rights reservedGuardian reporter Amelia Hill has been questioned under caution by Met police officers investigating an alleged leak of information from the force's phone-hacking team, Operation Weeting.
Hill, whose work has been instrumental to the newspaper's phone hacking coverage, was questioned several days ago.
The leak is believed to relate to information about the arrest of former News of the World Hollywood correspondent James Desborough, which was covered in the Guardian by Hill.
The day after her report was published a 51-year-old police officer was arrested by members of the Met's anti-corruption team over "unauthorised disclosure of information".
A spokesman for the Guardian said: "We can confirm Amelia Hill has been questioned in connection with an investigation into alleged leaks."
The statement added that the questioning of Hill has implications for the legality of the way journalists deal with police officers:
"On a broader point, journalists would no doubt be concerned if the police sought to criminalise conversations between off-record sources and reporters."
The Met police began two internal investigations this month into contact between officers and journalists. The inquiries will look at whether communications between officers and journalists should be officially monitored and recorded.
A Guardian report compared Hill's situation to that of Sally Murrer, a reporter on the Milton Keynes Citizen. Murrer was prosecuted alongside former Thames Valley police detective Mark Kearney over allegations that Kearney leaked information to her. The case was thrown out.
In a separate incident this morning, a 35-year-old man was arrested by Operation Weeting on suspicion of phone hacking. The man was arrested at 5.55am at his home and remains in custody in a North London police station. The arrest was the 16th by the Operation Weeting team.
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