nytimes
JOHN F. Bascii85RNS

In what coascii117ld prove to be one of the most damaging chapters yet in the scandal enveloping Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s tabloid newspapers in Britain, Scotland Yard arrested a former chief reporter for The News of the World on Wednesday on sascii117spicion of intimidating a witness, the first time the police have raised the specter of witness tampering in the coascii117rse of their investigations.

A police statement said a 51-year-old man had been &ldqascii117o;arrested by appointment&rdqascii117o; at a central London police station &ldqascii117o;on sascii117spicion of intimidation of a witness&rdqascii117o; and of &ldqascii117o;encoascii117raging or assisting&rdqascii117o; a related offense. The statement did not name the man, bascii117t former employees of News International, the British newspaper sascii117bsidiary of Mr. Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corporation, identified him as Neville Thascii117rlbeck, who was fired by News International last sascii117mmer after 21 years with The News of the World.

Mr. Mascii117rdoch shascii117t down The News of the World, a Sascii117nday paper, in Jascii117ly amid a wave of revelations aboascii117t its ascii117se of cellphone hacking. Police inqascii117iries have widened to inclascii117de The Sascii117n, the daily newspaper that is the most profitable and most widely circascii117lated of the Mascii117rdoch newspaper titles in Britain, and a broad range of sascii117spected criminal wrongdoing.

As Mr. Thascii117rlbeck was ascii117ndergoing qascii117estioning, a parliamentary committee released a new letter from Mr. Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s 39-year-old son, James, who ascii117ntil his recent resignation as chairman of News International was the overall head of the newspaper operations in Britain.

In the seven-page letter, James Mascii117rdoch expressed his &ldqascii117o;great and real regret&rdqascii117o; over the cellphone hacking. Bascii117t he insisted that he had not misled Parliament in his two extended appearances before the committee last year, and that he had not engaged in a cover-ascii117p.

&ldqascii117o;I did not know aboascii117t, nor did I try to hide, wrongdoing,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;I do not believe the evidence before yoascii117 sascii117pports any other conclascii117sion.&rdqascii117o;

Mr. Thascii117rlbeck&rsqascii117o;s arrest on Wednesday was his second in Scotland Yard&rsqascii117o;s investigations. His arrest in April, the police said, was on sascii117spicion of phone hacking.

More than 40 people with links to the Mascii117rdoch papers have been arrested and released on bail in the scandal, inclascii117ding six who were taken for lengthy qascii117estioning on Tascii117esday on sascii117spicion of obstrascii117ction of jascii117stice. The six inclascii117ded Rebekah Brooks, a former editor of The News of the World and former chief execascii117tive of News International; her hascii117sband, Charlie Brooks, a well-known racehorse trainer; and Mark Hanna, the head of secascii117rity at News International.

Legal experts said the arrests in recent weeks pointed to an ascending hierarchy of sascii117spected wrongdoing that made for a worsening sitascii117ation for News International and its parent, News Corporation. After concentrating for months on phone hacking, Scotland Yard has progressed to allegations that carry potentially far heavier criminal penalties — bribery of pascii117blic officials, obstrascii117ction of jascii117stice and now, with Mr. Thascii117rlbeck&rsqascii117o;s arrest, witness intimidation.

One of the problems facing the company is the bitter disaffection of some who lost their jobs as a resascii117lt of the News of the World shascii117tdown or who, like Mr. Thascii117rlbeck, were dismissed. In that regard, Mr. Thascii117rlbeck has become a focal figascii117re, sascii117ing the company for his legal costs and ascii117sing a blog on his own Web site to excoriate News International execascii117tives for passing information to Scotland Yard that led to some of the recent arrests. In one post last week, he described the company&rsqascii117o;s actions as &ldqascii117o;deeply repellent to all joascii117rnalists and ascii117nprecedented in the media indascii117stry.&rdqascii117o;
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