Three arrests in corrupt payments probe

Detectives arrested a former serviceman, 42, and a woman, 38, at their home in Lancashire at about 6am.

A man was held on suspicion of misconduct in a public office and a woman on suspicion of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office. They are being questioned at a police station in Lancashire.

A 36-year-old man was arrested at his home in Kent on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt and conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office. He is being questioned at a police station in Kent.

Officers carried out searches at the homes of those under arrest.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: “Today’s operation is the result of information provided to police by News Corporation’s management standards committee.

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“It relates to suspected payments to a public official and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately.”

The management standards committee was set up by Rupert Murdoch’s parent company News Corp in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World last July.

It is carrying out internal investigations relating to Mr Murdoch’s remaining UK papers – the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times – and is working closely with the police team investigating alleged phone hacking and corrupt payments to police and other public officials.