Is this the beginning of the end of Rupert Murdoch's media empire?

But at the end of the day, even those folks will have to rely on someone with the skills and resources, and that means the police themselves, or someone who maintains a close relationship with them.

Jeeze . . . sometimes i don't know why i bother. I haven't said that such commissions do not or cannot do good. I'm just pointing out the debilities with which they necessarily labor.

Stuart Kuttner, the public face of the News of the World and its most vocal public defender for 22 years, has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phone hacking and of bribing police officers to leak sensitive information.

As managing editor until his resignation in July 2009, Kuttner was in charge of finances at the now-defunct tabloid.

Kuttner, 71, was described at the time of his resignation by the last editor of the newspaper, Colin Myler, as a man whose "DNA is absolutely integrated into the newspaper which he has represented across the media with vigour".

Kuttner reportedly did not know he was going to be taken into custody when he arrived by appointment at a police station in London on Tuesday at 11am for questioning. Police were later seen searching his home in Woodford, Essex.

Police from operations Weeting (the investigation into phone hacking) and Elveden (concerning allegations of inappropriate payments to police), are understood to have arrested Kuttner, who has serious health problems and recently returned from treatment in the US.

Kuttner is believed to have been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977, and on suspicion of corruption contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

They are the same allegations that Rebekah Brooks, the former News of the World editor and ex-News International chief executive, faces since her arrest last month. When Brooks faced a Commons culture, media and sport select committee hearing last month, she told MPs that payments to private investigators were the responsibility of the paper's managing editor's office.

Brooks admitted using private investigators during her time as editor of the tabloid between 2000 and 2003 for "purely legitimate" purposes. When asked whether she had ever discussed individual payments to private investigators with Kuttner, she admitted that "payments to private investigators would have gone through the managing editor's office". But, she added: "I can't remember if we ever discussed individual payments."

News International sought to play down the arrest, telling journalists that it was "no great surprise" and that, as an "ex-employee", it was also of no great consequence. But that underplays Kuttner's key role as the public face of the News of the World under Brooks and her replacement, Andy Coulson, both of whom were reluctant to talk to the media.

When Brooks's Sarah's Law campaign caused public hysteria in some towns and cities, with protests against suspected paedophiles by some Portsmouth residents during which cars burnt in Portsmouth, it was Kuttner who faced the cameras. He also played a role in the paper's dealing with Sara Payne in the years after her eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, was abducted and murdered in July 2000.

The Guardian revealed last week that Payne's mobile phone had been targeted by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire at a time when key executives were working hard to forge what Payne believed to be a close and genuine friendship. Kuttner attended her parents' funerals.

No reason was given for Kuttner's departure from the newspaper two years ago, shortly before the Guardian exclusive that blew the phone-hacking story wide open. At the time, News International said he would continue to work on "specialised projects", including its Sarah's Law campaign. In February 2008, he appeared on Radio 4's Today programme and claimed the News of the World was a "watchdog" which guarded against corruption among those in positions of power.

"If [the use of private investigators] happens, it shouldn't happen," he said. "It happened once at the News of the World. The reporter was fired; he went to prison. The editor resigned."

He went on to argue that British journalism is "a very honourable profession" and that newspapers such as the News of the World had to act as watchdogs because "we live in an age of corrosion of politics and of public life – degradation".

He visited Soham in 2002, following the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, to defend the tabloid's decision to offer a reward of £150,000 in conjunction with the Sun newspaper for information that could lead to their safe return.

He also appeared on the BBC's Breakfast with Frost, responding to criticism of the reward and saying the man leading the investigation into the girls' disappearance, Detective Superintendent David Hankins, had welcomed it. The arrest of Kuttner, who was news editor at the London Evening Standard before moving to the NoW in 1987, is the 11th by Operation Weeting police. He is expected to be released on bail until October. Others arrested and bailed have included Coulson, ex-assistant editor Ian Edmondson, ex-chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, senior ex-journalist James Weatherup, freelance journalist Terenia Taras, an unnamed 63-year-old man and ex-royal editor Clive Goodman.

Operation Elveden was also involved in Kuttner's arrest. Elveden officers are being supervised by the IPCC.

Daniel Cloke Esq.
Group Human Resources Director
News International
1 Virginia Street
London E198 1HR

March 2, 2007

Dear Mr Cloke,

Re: Notice of termination of employment


I refer to Les Hinton's letter of February 5 2007 informing me of my dismissal for alleged gross misconduct.
The letter identifies the reason for the dismissal as "recent events". I take this to mean my plea of guilty to conspiracy to intercept the voicemail messages of three employees of the royal family.
I am appealing against this decision on the following grounds:

i The decision is perverse in that the actions leading to this criminal charge were carried out with the full knowledge and support of (BLANKED OUT]. Payment for Glen (sic) Mulcaire's services was arranged by (BLANKED OUT].

ii The decision is inconsistent, because (BLANKED OUT] and other members of staff were carrying out the same illegal procedures. The prosecution counsel, the counsel for Glen (sic) Mulcaire, and the Judge at the sentencing hearing agreed that other News of the World employees were the clients for Mulcaire's five solo substantive charges. This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the Editor. As far as I am aware, no other member of staff has faced disciplinary action, much less dismissal.

iii My conviction and imprisonment cannot be the real reason for my dismissal. The legal manager, Tom Crone, attended virtually every meeting of my legal team and was given full access to the Crown Prosecution Service's evidence files. He, and other senior staff of the paper, had long advance knowledge that I would plead guilty. Despite this, the paper continued to employ me. Throughout my suspension, I was given book serialisations to write and was consulted on several occasions about royal stories they needed to check. The paper continued to employ me for a substantial part of my custodial sentence.

iv Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me.

v The dismissal is automatically unfair as the company failed to go through the minimum required statutory dismissal procedures.

Yours sincerely,

Clive Goodman

cc Stuart Kuttner, Managing Editor, News of the World
Les Hinton, Executive Chairman, News International Ltd