Phone hacking: Former Brooks assistant arrested

Police investigating phone hacking today arrested a 47-year-old woman on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, the 17th person to be arrested in the Scotland Yard investigation.

She is widely reported to be Cheryl Carter, former assistant to Rebekah Brooks. Carter worked with Brooks for 19 years and went on to become the Sun's beauty editor.

The arrest was made by officers from Operation Weeting, which has been tasked with investigating phone hacking. Brooks herself was arrested by the team in July last year but released without charge.

According to a statement from the Metropolitan police, the woman arrested today is currently in custody at an Essex police station.

As well as Operation Weeting, Scotland Yard is also currently carrying out two other related investigations, Operation Tuleta, which is looking into alleged breaches of privacy which fall "outside the remit of Operation Weeting", said to include computer hacking, and Operation Elveden, which is investigating "allegations of inappropriate payments to police".

Update: The Metropolitan Police updated their statement later on Friday (6 January) to say the woman has been bailed "to return to an Essex police station on a date later this month".

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