Story highlights
James Desborough has been released from police bail after seven months, his lawyer says
He is a former showbiz reporter and U.S. editor for News of the World
His arrest was one of a number made as police investigate claims of phone hacking
A former News of the World journalist who was arrested last August in connection with alleged phone hacking will not face further police action, his lawyer said Wednesday.
James Desborough’s arrest came as London’s Metropolitan Police probed claims of illegal phone hacking by staff at the News of the World, which was run by News International, the British arm of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. He has been free on bail after being questioned.
The best-selling Sunday tabloid was shuttered in July amid public outrage over claims it had hacked into the voice mail of a missing teenager who was later found murdered.
Lawyer Julian Young said his client had been released from police bail and “can now pick up the pieces of, and develop his promising career, which was put on hold during the months of waiting for this decision.”
A former showbiz reporter and U.S. editor for News of the World, Desborough was named showbiz reporter of the year in the 2009 British Press Awards.
The judges commented then that he “produced a series of uncompromising scoops which mean no celebrity with secrets can sleep easy.”
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement Tuesday that a 39-year-old man arrested last August had been “released from bail with no further action.”
Police said Desborough is the third person arrested in connection with the investigation to be told he will not be charged.
News International declined to comment.
CNN’s Raja Razek and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.
