LONDON — Former News International executive Rebekah Brooks and her racehorse trainer husband Charlie were arrested Tuesday in dawn raids that also netted four other suspects in the spreading phone hacking scandal.
Police said the six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The charge is an indication that investigators may be focusing on a possible coverup of the scope of phone hacking rather than the illegal hacking itself.
It was the most arrests in a single day since “Operation Weeting” — as the police investigation into phone hacking is known — began arresting reporters, senior news executives, police officers and others suspected of criminal acts.
The early morning police swoop brought the scandal to Prime Minister David Cameron’s immediate social circle. Cameron said at a press conference earlier this month that Charlie Brooks, Rebekah Brooks’ husband who has now been arrested, was a longtime friend.