London police chief announces resignation amid phone-hacking scandal

London (CNN) --


London's police chief said Sunday that he intends to resign from his post as a result of the widening phone-hacking scandal that has rocked his department.


"I have taken this decision as a consequence of the ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Met's links with News International at a senior level," Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, told reporters Sunday.


Stephenson's announcement came the same day as the arrest of former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, in connection with British police investigations into phone hacking and police bribery, her spokesman told CNN.


She is being quizzed by police in London after having come in by appointment, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.


Brooks did not know she was going to be arrested when she arrived, her spokesman Dave Wilson said.


She resigned on Friday as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which published the News of the World.


The company also did not know she was about to be arrested when it accepted her resignation, a News International source told CNN Sunday, asking not to be named discussing internal corporate affairs.


Brooks had agreed to testify Tuesday at a House of Commons hearing on the scandal. It's not clear how her arrest will affect the hearing -- committee member Louise Mensch, a Conservative member of Parliament, said the committee chair was "taking legal advice" on the situation.


Wilson said that over the next 24 to 36 hours Brooks' attorneys will be in discussion with the select committee to see whether her appearance at the hearing is still appropriate.

Mark Stephens, a prominent British media lawyer, told CNN the arrest was "somewhat theatrical," given that Brooks has apparently not been charged with a crime.


Brooks had asked police since January whether they wanted to speak with her, but was told that was not needed, Wilson said. While she received a call Friday to come in Sunday and answer questions, she was not told she would be arrested on arrival, Wilson said, adding that it came as a shock to Brooks.


Brooks is adamant that she is innocent of any wrongdoing, Wilson said.


Brooks is the eighth person arrested in connection with the phone-hacking probe and the fourth arrested in the bribery investigation, police said Sunday. Two people, including Brooks, have been detained over both probes, meaning a total of 10 people have been arrested.


News International said Sunday before the arrest that it would "not tolerate wrongdoing" and was determined to rebuild its reputation.


News International said it would compensate those affected by its illegal phone hacking, cooperate fully with the police and had hired a law firm to "examine past failings" and recommend new procedures to make sure they are not repeated.


The promise comes in national newspaper advertisements in all the major Sunday British newspapers -- a group that this week does not include the News of the World for the first time in 168 years.


Murdoch closed the paper last week, less than a week after it came out that reporters working for him had illegally eavesdropped on the phone of a missing girl, Milly Dowler, and deleted some of her messages to make room for more. She was later found dead.


Closing the paper has not put an end to the scandal, which has exposed the close links the British press has with both politicians and the police.


Home Secretary Theresa May will make a statement to British lawmakers on Monday about relations between the Metropolitan Police and a former executive editor of the News of the World, Neil Wallis.


Wallis became a communications consultant to the Met after leaving the paper. He was arrested last week in connection with the phone hacking scandal.



    The Met Sunday denied that Stephenson got a free stay at an expensive spa earlier this year due to Wallis' connection with the resort, Champneys.


    "The accommodation and meals were arranged and provided by Stephen Purdew, (managing director) of Champneys, who is a personal family friend who has no connection with, or to links to, his professional life," the police said in a statement.

    . more http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/17/uk.phone.hacking/

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    Comment by truth on July 17, 2011 at 5:36pm
    Comment by mick on July 17, 2011 at 4:05pm
    What about the Mendez murder ? 7/7 and 911 are related.

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