Metropolitan police team has made a 13th arrest in phone hacking investigation
Credit: Alberto OG on Flickr. Some rights reservedA 38-year-old man, reported to be former News of the World US editor James Desborough, has been arrested by Metropolitan police officers investigating the phone-hacking scandal.
The man was arrested by appointment this morning at a London police station where he remains in custody.
Police have confirmed that he was arrested by officers from the Met's Operation Weeting team, which is investigating phone hacking, on suspicion of conspiring to unlawfully intercept voicemails, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
If the arrested man is Desborough, who covered showbusiness in the US for the tabloid from April 2009 until it was closed in July, the arrest may fuel speculation over whether illegal methods were used by News Corp employees in the US.
US federal crime body the FBI launched an investigation into News of the World owner News Corp last month after it was alleged that people employed by the newspaper hacked the phones of families of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
The FBI has reportedly found no hard evidence that 9/11 families were targeted, but is said to be widening its investigation to look at other forms of criminality including computer hacking.
Today's arrest is the 13th made by the Operation Weeting team. High profile arrests so far include former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and former News of the World editor and Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson.
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