UK Police Arrest Eight In Newspaper Bribery Probe

(NewsCore) - UK police arrested eight people Saturday, including a serving member of Britain's armed forces, over claims of illegal payments to police and public officials by newspapers.

Five journalists from News Corp.'s tabloid The Sun, a female Ministry of Defence employee and a serving police officer were also among those arrested.

London's Metropolitan Police said the arrests were made Saturday morning as part of the Operation Elveden investigation into illegal payments.

The arrests mark the first time the investigation has spread beyond payments to police.

The Sun's deputy editor Geoff Webster was among those arrested, along with the paper's picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and reporter John Sturgis.

The arrests were made after News Corp. handed information to Scotland Yard.

News Corp. confirmed the arrests Saturday.

The company said in a statement that searches had taken place at the homes of those arrested. It added that legal representation was being made available to those arrested.

"News Corporation ... is committed to making certain that legitimate journalism is vigorously pursued in both the public interest and in full compliance with the law," the statement said.

It is the second high-profile batch of arrests at The Sun newspaper in as many weeks.

News Corp. owns NewsCore and holds a 39.1 percent stake in Sky News' parent company, BSkyB.

Read more: Sky News