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Phone-hacking police arrest former News of the World Scotland editor
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent guardian.co.uk
DATELINE: 29/8/12
Bob Bird, a former Scotland editor of the News of the World, has been arrested and charged by police investigating allegations of perjury and phone hacking linked to Scottish socialist leader Tommy Sheridan's conviction for lying in court.
Strathclyde police took Bird in for questioning on Wednesday as part of their long-running Operation Rubicon inquiry into claims that witnesses lied under oath during Sheridan's perjury trial in 2010. Bird was later released from custody and a report will now be prepared for prosecutors.
Strathclyde police said: "Officers from Operation Rubicon of Strathclyde police arrested and charged a 56-year-old man with attempting to pervert the course of justice at the time of the defamation action of Thomas Sheridan versus News Groups Newspapers.
"A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal in Glasgow. Proceedings are now active and it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further."
The Crown Office said Bird had been arrested and charged on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Bird is the third former NoW journalist to be held by Strathclyde detectives. His former boss, Andy Coulson, was arrested on suspicion of lying in court during Sheridan's trial and charged with perjury in May. Bird's former news editor on the tabloid's Scottish edition and later NoW books editor, Doug Wight, was arrested as part of the same investigation and charged with perjury, conspiracy to hack telephones and breaches of the data protection acts.
Operation Rubicon was set up in the wake of the closure of the NoW last year following allegations that News International staff had hacked the phone of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
In collaboration with Crown Office prosecutors, police are investigating allegations that Sheridan and a number of people linked to him were victims of phone hacking, allegations that data protection legislation was breached, and that witnesses in Sheridan's trial lied under oath.
Sheridan was convicted in December 2010 of committing perjury when he won a celebrated defamation action against the News of the World in 2006, after the paper published detailed allegations about his sex life and alleged adultery.
Sheridan's solicitor Gordon Dangerfield said: "It would not be right to comment on individual charges. We look forward to the whole truth coming out in court at last."
29 August 2012
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Last modified: Tuesday, September 18, 2012
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Previous stories
Journalism Ethics
Phone hacking: Coulson and others face crown court in September
Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks to be charged over phone hacking
Operation Motorman: 72 people told they were targeted by investigator
Guardian hacking journalist David Leigh won't be charged
Disabled people slam media libels
Phone hacking: No charges for Guardian reporter Amelia Hill over 'leaks'
Phone-hacking police charge Rebekah Brooks
11 referred to prosecutors by phone-hacking squad
News of the World phone-hacking cases launched in US
News Corporation's Australian branch in new hacking row
Chris Jefferies: Only press fines can prevent trial by media
Paying cash for stories: a demeaning trade that spawned phone hacking and illegal payments to Police officers
The Sun has eroded British justice, fairness and freedom: now it is feeling the effects
Sun in crisis
Evidence to the Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions from CPBF Chair Julian Petley
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Phone hacking: Leveson inquiry into press ethics starts
The People in libel payout over Dale Farm slavery slur
News of the World hired investigators to spy on hacking victims' lawyers
Phone hacking: NoW warned about 'culture of illegal information access'
Milly Dowler police investigation may have been targeted
Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive
Journalist wins legal battle after refusing to reveal sources
Phone hacking: News International faces more than 60 claims
Journalistic bad practice: more "icebergs" on the way
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The Sun and Hillsborough
News of the World accused of hacking Milly Dowler's phone
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