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News of the World new phone hacking claims
Those arrested are understood to include the paper's former showbusiness columnist Rav Singh. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
Those arrested are understood to include the paper's former showbusiness columnist Rav Singh. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Six ex-NoW journalists arrested in new phone hacking inquiry

This article is more than 11 years old
The Met says it has identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept voicemails by News of the World staff in 2005-06

Six former News of the World features and showbusiness journalists, two of whom now work for the Sun, have been arrested by Scotland Yard officers investigating a new phone-hacking conspiracy at the paper.

In a dramatic twist to the phone-hacking scandal on Wednesday morning, police said they had identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages by three men and three women that is alleged to have taken place between 2005 and 2006.

Those arrested are understood to include the paper's former showbusiness columnist Rav Singh and ex-News of the World features editor Jules Stenson.

The two Sun journalists arrested are understood to be the editor of the paper's Fabulous magazine, Rachel Richardson, who was taken to a London police station, and the Sun's northern features editor, Jane Atkinson, who was detained in Cheshire. Both formerly worked on the News of the World.

The remaining two arrested are understood to be Matt Nixson, a former features journalist who spent five years at the News of the World, and Polly Graham, a former showbusiness journalist on the tabloid.

All six were released on police bail later on Wednesday until a date in mid-May pending further inquiries.

Announcing the arrests, the Met said they came about "as part of the new lines of inquiry" being investigated by Scotland Yard: "This suspected conspiracy is believed to have taken place primarily during 2005 to 2006. It is separate from the alleged conspiracy already being investigated by Operation Weeting in which a number of people have been charged."

An internal message has been sent to News International employees confirming that two of those arrested are journalists working for the Sun. The pair were provided with lawyers by the company.

The number of people, including police officers and other public officials, detained in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that closed the News of the World in July 2011 is now more than 100. The number of Sun journalists arrested has now risen to 24.

The arrests came as a shock to News International, which recently announced it was about to close its private compensation scheme for phone-hacking victims.

Stenson is currently working at the celebrity PR agency AOB. Nixson worked with Stenson as head of features on the NoW before switching briefly to the Sun and is now working for the Daily Mail. Singh, who had a high profile showbusiness column in the paper, was also its assistant showbiz editor and has since moved into TV production. Graham left the paper in early 2005 and is now a freelance writer and columnist.

Richardson, a former showbiz and digital editor on the News of the World, was appointed editor of Fabulous magazine in January 2011, when it was still a supplement of the Sunday title. Fabulous was moved to the Sun after the NoW closed at the height of public outrage over the phone-hacking scandal in July 2011. Atkinson was the chief features writer for the News of the World before moving to the Sun as its northern features editor.

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