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Former News International legal chief Tom Crone has been arrested as part of the Metropolitan Police's investigation into the phone-hacking scandal, according to reports.
The police announced Thursday that a 60-year-old man -- subsequently identified as Crone by the BBC -- had been arrested at his home address in southwest London on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, and is being questioned at a south London police station.
Crone, who spent more than 20 years with News International, providing legal advice on editorial matters at both The Sun and the News of the World (NoW), quit the company in July last year following the closure of NoW in the wake of the hacking controversy.
In May this year, a parliamentary report by the Culture, Media and Sport committee accused Crone of misleading MPs after he was called before the committee to give evidence relating to the phone-hacking scandal.
News International chief Rupert Murdoch also criticized Crone in his testimony to the Leveson inquiry in April, suggesting that the company had made an error by allowing him to continue in his role for so long.
In response, Crone stated that Murdoch's assertion that he "took charge of a cover-up" in relation to phone-hacking was "a shameful lie."
The Metropolitan Police statement reads: "Officers from Operation Weeting, the MPS inquiry into the hacking of telephone voicemail boxes, arrested a man in South West London this morning (30 August).
"The 60-year-old man was arrested at his home address at approximately 06.45 hrs this morning on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977. He is being interviewed at a South London police station."
The arrest comes after the Crown Prosecution Service charged a number of former NoW journalists, including ex-chief executive Rebekah Brooks and former editor Andy Coulson, earlier this month.
