British police arrest 4 in tabloid bribery probe

[January 28, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and three other men as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists.

London's Metropolitan Police said two men aged 48 and one aged 56 were arrested on suspicion of corruption early in the morning at homes in and around London.

The fourth, a 29-year-old police officer, was arrested at the London station where he works.

The investigation into whether reporters illegally paid police for information is running parallel to a police inquiry into phone hacking by Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World.

Police said Saturday's arrests were made as a result of information provided by the Management and Standards Committee of Murdoch's News Corp.

Officers were searching the homes of the four men and the east London headquarters of the media mogul's British newspapers for evidence.

The company had no immediate comment.

A dozen people have now been arrested in the bribery probe, though none has yet been charged.

They include former Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of Murdoch's News International, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson -- who is also Prime Minister David Cameron's former communications chief -- and journalists from the News of the World and its sister paper, The Sun.

Two of the London police force's top officers resigned in the wake of the revelation last July that the News of the World had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager in its quest for stories.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old tabloid, and the scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence hacking went beyond one reporter and a private investigator, but News Corp. has now acknowledged it was much more widespread.

Last week the company agreed to pay damages to 37 hacking victims, including actor Jude Law, soccer star Ashley Cole and British politician John Prescott.

[Associated Press; By JILL LAWLESS]

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless.

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