British Police Arrest Rebekah Brooks in Phone Hacking

By ALAN COWELL and RAVI SOMAIYA
NYT

LONDON — The British police on Sunday arrested Rebekah Brooks, the former head of Rupert Murdoch’s media operations in Britain, according to a former associate at News International, the newspaper group at the heart of a phone-hacking scandal convulsing the Murdoch empire, the British political elite and the police.

A police statement did not identify her by name but said a 43-year-old woman had been detained for questioning by officers investigating both the phone-hacking scandal and payments made to corrupt police officers. A News International official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Ms. Brooks had been arrested.

Britain’s Press Association news agency said she was arrested by appointment at a London police station at approximately midday and remains in custody.

The move came just two days after the embattled Ms. Brooks quit as chief executive at News International, the latest maneuver as the Murdoch family struggled to contain the fallout from a scandal.

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