A SENIOR journalism lecturer, who teaches media ethics at a North-East university, has been arrested in connection with phone hacking.
Former News of the World reporter Bethany Usher was interviewed for several hours before being released on police bail last night.
In 2006, the 31-year-old was questioned by officers on suspicion of providing false information for a job at Buckingham Palace but was never charged.
Yesterday, she became the 17th arrest under Scotland Yard’s Operation Weeting.
Officers said the Teesside University lecturer had been held in connection with conspiring to intercept communications.
Ms Usher, who spent several years working in the newspaper industry, is described as an award-winning journalist on the university’s website.
Last night, one of her students, Jordan Brough, spoke of his shock at her arrest.
The 19-year-old second year multimedia journalism student said: “Bethany’s my journalistic ethics tutor at university. She’s an incredibly enthusiastic and supportive teacher. It was a massive shock to hear of her arrest.
She is a really good tutor and I’m really surprised.
We weren’t expecting that to happen.”
The day before her arrest, Ms Usher referred several times to the ongoing Leveson Inquiry into press standards on her Twitter page, bethanyusher, which was deactivated yesterday.
Her Twitter account shows a post from Tuesday – directed at former News of the World journalist Paul McMullan, who told the Leveson Inquiry hacking was “perfectly acceptable”
and only evil people needed privacy – which said: “For god sake paul Mcmullen (sic), shut your sickening trap.”
Another, posted on Monday, said: “Am I the only former tabloid reporter who followed the PCC? Leveson. Hey kids. They (sic) the rules, stick to them.”
And in a Twitter conversation with a journalism student she said: “I recognise about 30 per cent of what he claims. Yes pressure was on, but I managed to get plenty of bylines without breaking PCC.”
Ms Usher started as a trainee reporter at the Sunderland Echo after completing her English Literature and Language degree at the University of Leeds.
After becoming the paper’s crime reporter she left to work for the News of the World and The People.
According to her biography on the university’s website: “Bethany has won four awards and was named young journalist of the year in 2003.”
Her arrest comes as Scotland Yard’s phone-hacking squad continues to work its way through 300 million emails from News International.
Detectives investigating phone hacking have arrested a series of high-profile figures, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex- Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson.
The scandal led to the closure of the News of the World after 168 years, prompted a major public inquiry and forced the resignation of Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates.
New Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe says police have already spent up to £3m on salaries, with officers speaking to 1,800 of 6,000 potential victims.
A total of 120 officers and staff are now working on the investigation after 1,800 people came forward to express fears that they may have been hacked.
Yesterday, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: “At 6.35am officers arrested the woman on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss any further details at this time.”
She has been released on bail until March and last night no one was available for comment at her home address.
Teesside University declined to comment on the arrest as it is part of an ongoing investigation.
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