Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News Corp.'s British newspapers is watched by a police officer as she leaves after attending a hearing in a corruption case at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013. Brooks appeared in court Friday to face charges over alleged conspiracy to bribe a public official to obtain information. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News Corp.'s British newspapers is watched by a police officer as she leaves after attending a hearing in a corruption case at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013. Brooks appeared in court Friday to face charges over alleged conspiracy to bribe a public official to obtain information. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Andy Coulson, the ex-communications chief for Prime Minister David Cameron, arrives for a bribery hearing at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013, in London. Coulson is appearing to answer charges relating to the alleged requesting and authorising of payments to public officials in exchange for information, including a royal phone directory known as the "green book". Coulson denies the charges.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News Corp.'s British newspapers, is watched by a policeman as she leaves a hearing at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013, in London. Brooks is appearing in court to face charges over alleged conspiracy to bribe a public official to obtain information. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News Corp.'s British newspapers, centre with red hair, arrives for a hearing in her phone hacking case at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013, in London. Brooks is appearing in court to face charges over alleged conspiracy to bribe a public official to obtain information, and Brooks denies the charge. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News Corp.'s British newspapers leaves after attending a hearing in a corruption case at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013. Brooks appeared in court Friday to face charges over alleged conspiracy to bribe a public official to obtain information. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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Andy Coulson, the ex-communications chief for Prime Minister David Cameron, arrives for a bribery hearing at the Old Bailey court in the City of London, Friday, March 8, 2013, in London. Coulson is appearing to answer charges relating to the alleged requesting and authorising of payments to public officials in exchange for information, including a royal phone directory known as the "green book". Coulson denies the charges. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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FILE - In this July 28, 2011 file photo, Lord Justice Brian Leveson speaks during the first formal session of his phone hacking inquiry in London. Leveson, who spent a year investigating the misdeeds of Britain's lively newspapers, is giving Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron an early look at his recommendations on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012 for the regulation of the press. (AP Photo/Sean Dempsey, Pool-File)
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FILE This Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 file photo shows British Prime Minister David Cameron's former chief communications adviser and former editor of the News of the World Andy Coulson, after appearing in Westminster Magistrates Court on phone hacking charges, in London. Officials have charged the British prime minister's former media aide and the ex-chief of Rupert Murdoch's News International with bribery offenses. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday Nov. 20, 2012 that Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were among four people being charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
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FILE This Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012 file photo shows Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of News Corp.'s British operations, leaving the Old Bailey court in London London. Officials have charged the British prime minister's former media aide and the ex-chief of Rupert Murdoch's News International with bribery offenses. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Tuesday Nov. 20, 2012 that Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were among four people being charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)
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FILE- Britain's Prince Harry watches track cycling during the 2012 Summer Olympics, in this file photo dated Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London. Nude photographs of Prince Harry in a Las Vegas, USA, hotel room are published on the Internet Wednesday Aug. 22, 2012, and now security experts are wondering whether the Scotland Yard officers who are assigned to keep the 27-year-old royal safe from harm, might have done a better job of keeping him out of trouble. The photos available on the Internet and not taken by Photographers' long lenses but are up close and personal. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Ex-tabloid editor quizzed in phone hacking probe
LONDON (AP) — The former editor of Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid was questioned on Friday by
police investigating phone hacking, British media reported.
The Press Association, Sky News and others said Richard Wallace, 51, was interviewed under caution. That means he was not arrested but the interview was recorded and could be used in future prosecutions.
London's Metropolitan Police said a 51-year-old man was interviewed at a police station "in connection with the suspected conspiracy to intercept telephone voicemails at Mirror Group Newspapers."
Britain's scandal over illegal eavesdropping by journalists began at Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World but has spread to other titles.
Murdoch's News Corp. has already paid millions to settle scores of lawsuits from celebrities, politicians and others who say they were victims of illegal intrusion.
The Guardian newspaper reported Friday that detectives were investigating hundreds more potential hacking incidents after obtaining records from a News Corp. insider turned witness. The newspaper did not name the individual.
On Thursday four current and former senior Mirror Group journalists were arrested, including the editor of the Sunday People tabloid and his deputy — the first time the criminal investigation has spread to Murdoch's rival. All four have been granted bail pending further inquiries.
Police say their investigation centers on allegations of hacking at the Sunday Mirror.
Wallace was deputy editor of that newspaper from 2003 to 2004, and editor of the Daily Mirror between 2004 and 2012.
He replaced Piers Morgan — now a high-profile CNN interviewer — who was fired from the Daily Mirror after the newspaper ran pictures of British soldiers abusing Iraqis that were exposed as fakes.
Wallace told Britain's media ethics inquiry last year that hacking "might well" have occurred at the Daily Mirror in the early 2000s. Morgan edited the newspaper between 1995 and 2004.
Morgan has repeatedly denied ever having hacked a phone or having ordered anyone else to hack a phone. But in a newspaper article in 2006, he boasted of eavesdropping on a phone message that Paul McCartney left on ex-wife Heather Mills' answering machine.
Tags:
press association, rupert murdoch, metropolitan police, piers morgan, trinity mirror, the sun, britain, arts_entertainment, early 2000s, scandal, friday, interview, london, connection, tabloid, british media, caution, police station, 51-year-old man, media ethics inquiry, conspiracy, phone hacking probe, news of the world, daily mirror, telephone voicemails, mirror group newspapers, daily mirror tabloid, richard wallace, future prosecutions, ex-tabloid editor
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