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Staff at The Sun tabloid arrested in bribe inquiry

File - Heather Mills attends the Achilles Hope and Possibility Race in New York's Central Park in this June 27, 2010 file photo . Heather Mills took on Piers Morgan at Britain's media ethics inquiry, Thursday, Feb.9, 2012, where the ex-model trashed Morgan's earlier testimony, saying that one of her private voicemails, which was played to the CNN interviewer and former tabloid editor, could have been obtained only through phone hacking. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin, File)

FILE - A Thursday Dec. 4, 2008 photo from files showing author JK Rowling reading to around 200 schoolchildren at a tea party in the Parliament Hall Edinburgh Thursday Dec, 4, 2008, where she read passages from her new book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". J.K Rowling described how press intrusion made her feel like a hostage, Hugh Grant traded insults with a newspaper editor and a former tabloid reporter insisted that only evildoers had any need of privacy. The first phase of Britain's media ethics inquiry ended this week after 40 days of dramatic hearings that heard from 184 witnesses _ celebrities, journalists, editors, academics and lawyers _ and revealed wildly differing perspectives on the murky workings of the tabloid press. (AP Photo/ David Cheskin, File, Pool)

FILE - A Monday Nov. 21, 2011 photo from files showing British actor Hugh Grant arriving to give evidence at the the Leveson inquiry in London. J.K Rowling described how press intrusion made her feel like a hostage, Hugh Grant traded insults with a newspaper editor and a former tabloid reporter insisted that only evildoers had any need of privacy. The first phase of Britain's media ethics inquiry ended this week after 40 days of dramatic hearings that heard from 184 witnesses _ celebrities, journalists, editors, academics and lawyers _ and revealed wildly differing perspectives on the murky workings of the tabloid press. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

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By JILL LAWLESS, The Associated Press Updated 6:06 AM Saturday, February 11, 2012

LONDON — Five staff at Britain's largest selling tabloid The Sun were arrested Saturday along with three other people over alleged bribes paid to police and defense officials, detectives and the newspaper's parent company said.

News. Corp said in a statement that police had searched the homes and offices of the five members of staff at the tabloid, long regarded regarded as the jewel in the crown of Rupert Murdoch's British media empire.

A serving police officer, a female employee at the Ministry of Defense and a 36-year-old member of the armed forces were also arrested in an early morning swoop.

London's Metropolitan Police said all eight people are being questioned, and confirmed they were detained following information provided to detectives by the management standards committee of News Corp.

The committee "will continue to ensure that all appropriate steps are taken to protect legitimate journalistic privilege and sources, private or personal information and legal privilege," News Corp. said in a statement.

Police said their investigation relates to alleged corrupt payments made to police officers and other officials by journalists. It is part of a series of police investigations sparked by Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal.

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February 11, 2012 11:00 AM EST

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