Head of Scotland Yard resigns amid hacking scandal; Rebekah Brooks is arrested
By Anthony Faiola,
WashPost
Updated: Sunday, July 17, 5:38 PM
LONDON— Britain’s roiling phone-hacking scandal reverberated deep inside this nation’s power structure Sunday, with the head of Scotland Yard, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigning only hours after Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s British operations, was arrested.
In a stoic appearance before the media, Stephenson — Britain’s most senior police official — said he was offering his resignation in light of “ongoing speculation and accusations” relating to his force’s links to senior members of News International, Murdoch’s News Corp.’s British division.
The pace of the scandal’s spread raised immediate questions about how high the fallout could go, with Prime Minister David Cameron and Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch, also in the line of fire for, at the very least, possible lapses in judgment.
Stephenson’s move comes amid massive criticism of his storied police force’s handling of the scandal, in which employees at the now-shuttered News of the World allegedly hacked the phones of thousands of British citizens — from crime victims to members of the royal family — and bribed police officers for information. Police missteps included the hiring of Neil Wallis — a former top editor at News of the World — as a special adviser to Scotland Yard despite widespread reports of illegal news-gathering at the tabloid during his tenure. Wallis was arrested on Thursday.
(More here.)
WashPost
Updated: Sunday, July 17, 5:38 PM
LONDON— Britain’s roiling phone-hacking scandal reverberated deep inside this nation’s power structure Sunday, with the head of Scotland Yard, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigning only hours after Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s British operations, was arrested.
In a stoic appearance before the media, Stephenson — Britain’s most senior police official — said he was offering his resignation in light of “ongoing speculation and accusations” relating to his force’s links to senior members of News International, Murdoch’s News Corp.’s British division.
The pace of the scandal’s spread raised immediate questions about how high the fallout could go, with Prime Minister David Cameron and Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch, also in the line of fire for, at the very least, possible lapses in judgment.
Stephenson’s move comes amid massive criticism of his storied police force’s handling of the scandal, in which employees at the now-shuttered News of the World allegedly hacked the phones of thousands of British citizens — from crime victims to members of the royal family — and bribed police officers for information. Police missteps included the hiring of Neil Wallis — a former top editor at News of the World — as a special adviser to Scotland Yard despite widespread reports of illegal news-gathering at the tabloid during his tenure. Wallis was arrested on Thursday.
(More here.)
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