h/t to Kosack ceebs for giving me the heads up about this. From The Daily Mail:
The former personal assistant of ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks has been arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking. Scotland Yard this morning confirmed the arrest of a 47-year-old woman, understood to be Cheryl Carter, on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Detectives are understood to be investigating allegations that emails were destroyed at the company before evidence was handed over to the Metropolitan Police.
...
'The woman was arrested at approximately 06.55 on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice, and she is currently in custody at an Essex police station.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...
Ms. Carter was Rebekah Brooks' personal assistant for nineteen years and is thus expected to have intimate details of the potentially criminal activities of her boss.
This is arrest #17 in the Weeting investigation into phone hacking, but arrest #twenty-something in the entire scandal.
Sing, Cheryl, sing!
Please help me and Brit get our book, BAD PRESS, about The Fall of the House of Murdoch to press. Donations will get your name printed in the book and you'll get a t-shirt and/or signed artwork by me and/or lunch with the author Peter Jukes (Brit):
http://unbound.co.uk/...
UPDATE 1:
From the comments, Kosack Brit has this gold:
This was the ferocious and unfriendly P.A. who circulated around Rebekah during my wild strange night with her in Hay on Wye in 2006.
Scary woman.
More significant is the arrest on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. It means Rebekah - Rupert's favour 'lariken', buddy to James and Cameron - is in the frame for the coverup.
Big news.
UPDATE 2:
From the comments, ceebs gives us this handy-dandy list of the many ongoing UK investigations into the criminal enterprise that is News Corp.:
Weeting is the investigation into phone hacking at the news of the world
Elvedon is an investigation into payments to police officers
Tuletta is an investigation into computer hacking by the NOTW
Rubicon is an investigation into phone hacking in Scotland by the NOTW (Seperate legal systems between England & Wales as one and Scotland) This is mainly focussed on and around perjury and phone hacking and perverting the course of justice over the Tommy Sheridan trial, This is the one that could se David Cameron the prime ministers former press secretary see the inside of a damp scottish jail for a very long time.
There are a lot more investigations of unknown name which will come out soon as well. During a Parliamentary committee meeting, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police gave a figure of in excess of thirty for the number of ongoing operations.
UPDATE 3:
From the comments, ceebs has a scoop on the latest arrest (Cheryl Carter, Rebakah Brooks' personal assistant):
The rumour going round is that in this case, perverting the course of justice (A crime the judiciary always take a very dim view of) consists of deleting emails. Assuming that the backups were maintained properly (They were maintained by contract by at least two firms who appear to have been most resistant to partcipating in deleting those files) then then this should provide all the evidence the police need to prove what happened and who took advantage of this situation. She should know where all the bodies are buried, and no doubt doesn't have the financial incentive to keep her mouth anywhere near as shut so should be much more easily leant on.
UPDATE 4:
Are you KIDDING me??? Hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money went to the two top UK police officials who stepped down amid the Murdochgate scandal! (Is ceebs on fire or wut? -- he found this update as well!!):
Scotland Yard chiefs who quit over phone hacking 'given £500k in secret cash pay outs' | Mail Online
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...
Two of Britain’s most senior police officers pocketed substantial pay-offs after resigning over the phone-hacking scandal, the Daily Mail can reveal.
Former Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and his colleague John Yates are thought to have received up to £500,000 between them.
The cash was handed out after the pair signed gagging orders which bar them from suing the Metropolitan Police or speaking about their treatment.
Do they also get hush money from News Corp.? Yikes!