Met officer arrested by detectives investigating allegations of inappropriate payments

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AppId is over the quota

The 33-year-old man, who works in Scotland Yard's Specialist Crime and Operations unit, was arrested at his home in Barnet, north London at 5.45am on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, the force said.

He is the 59th person to be arrested by officers working on Operation Elveden, the inquiry into alleged inappropriate payments.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the officer was being interviewed at a north London police station and his home is being searched.

"Today's arrest is the result of information provided to police by News Corporation's Management and Standards Committee," he said.

"It relates to suspected payments to a police officer and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately."

The police officer is the second person arrested this week by officers working on Elveden.

A 42-year-old prison officer was arrested and bailed on Monday after being arrested at his home in Sittingbourne, Kent, on suspicion of conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office.

Of those arrested under Elveden, eight people have faced, or will face, court proceedings and two - a retired police officer and a former journalist - have been told they will face no further action.

Last week, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that ex-Metropolitan Police constable Paul Flattley and The Sun's defence editor Virginia Wheeler will face a charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

It is alleged that the officer was paid at least £4,000 in cheques and £2,450 in cash in exchange for information.

Allegations have also been made against former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, 44, Sun chief reporter John Kay, 69, and Ministry of Defence employee Bettina Jordan-Barber, 39.

It is alleged that Brooks, from Oxfordshire, and Kay, from north west London, conspired to pay Jordan-Barber, from Shrivenham, near Swindon, around £100,000 for information.

Prime Minister David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson and former News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman are charged with conspiracy to pay for information including a royal phone directory known as the "Green Book".

All five are due to appear at the Old Bailey for a plea hearing on March 8.

In another case, Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, 53, was found guilty of misconduct in public office earlier this month for offering to sell information to the News of the World.

She is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey today.

Operation Elveden is being run alongside two other police investigations.

Operation Weeting, an inquiry into alleged phone hacking, has seen 26 arrests, and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into computer hacking and other privacy breaches, has seen 19.

PA

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Plebgate: Second officer arrested over alleged conspiracy that led to resignation of former chief whip Andrew Mitchell

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A 46-year-old member of the Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG) was arrested at work and taken to a central London police station for questioning on suspicion of misconduct in public office over alleged leaks to the media about the affair.

The officer was not present at the time of the dispute between Mr Mitchell and officers on duty outside Downing Street when officers claimed that he swore at them and used the term pleb. Mr Mitchell admits swearing but denies directing it at the officers and using the politically-toxic term.

Details of the confrontation first appeared in the media on September 19, which led to a campaign against the politician by factions of the Police Federation and Mr Mitchell’s eventual resignation. However CCTV pictures and the revelation that an email backing up the officers’ story was sent by a colleague led to Tory MPs claiming that Mr Mitchell had been brought low by a police plot.

The policeman is the second officer to be arrested over the affair. A 52-year-old colleague was arrested in December over the same offence and has been bailed until late February.

A man, 23, who was not a policeman, was also arrested on December on suspicion of aiding misconduct in public office and is also on bail.

It emerged today that four other officers from the DPG, which protects embassies, foreign dignitaries and sensitive sites like Downing Street, had been issued with disciplinary notices informing them that they faced misconduct inquiries. Three of them have been moved to restricted duties, Scotland Yard said.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has said that he would embark on a “relentless pursuit of the truth” in an investigation – Operation Alice – that has cost tens of thousands of pounds. It is being run by the force’s own disciplinary unit and supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

However critics have raised concerns that the high-profile inquiry is being carried out by officers from the same force as the people they are investigating, instead of bringing in outside officers.

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