Scotland Yard to Interview Rupert Murdoch: Report

London: Scotland Yard detectives have told media mogul Rupert Murdoch that he will be interviewed as a suspect over crimes, including phone-hacking by journalists, at his British newspapers, a media report said today.

According to the Guardian, the interview is expected to take place in the near future in the United Kingdom and will be conducted "under caution", the legal warning given to suspects.

Murdoch's son James, who was the executive chairman of News International in the UK, may also be questioned.

The newspaper report claims that detectives first contacted 83-year-old Murdoch last year to arrange to question him but agreed to a request from his lawyers to wait until the phone-hacking trial was over.

A jury at the Old Bailey court in London yesterday found Murdoch's former News of the World tabloid editor Andy Coulson guilty of conspiring to hack phones, but acquitted his former UK chief executive Rebekah Brooks on all charges.

Advertisement

The verdict could mean that Murdoch is now threatened with a possible corporate charge for his British firm News UK (formerly News International), while the media owner also faces the prospect of criminal trials involving his journalists as well as legal actions from the alleged victims of phone hacking by the News of the World.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron was facing a grilling by MPs in the House of Commons on his decision to employ Coulson, after his former communications director was convicted of conspiring to hack phones between 2000 and 2006.

Advertisement

The prime minister has said he is "extremely sorry" for hiring Coulson in 2007 and then taking him to No 10, Downing Street.