2nd top Scotland Yard official in two days resigns

The lawyer for Rebekah Brooks, who was arrested Sunday in the burgeoning British phone hacking scandal, says she is not guilty of any crime and that police will have to "give an account of their actions" in taking her into custody, the BBC reports.

Brooks, who resigned last week as CEO of News International, the British arm of the Rupert Murdoch media empire, was editor of the tabloid News of the World when the most sensational phone-hacking incidents allegedly occurred. The 168-year-old paper was shut down last week by Murdoch in an effort to put the scandal to rest.

The scandal also includes allegations that the newspaper hacked the phones of 9/11 victims and British soldiers killed in action, as well as paid police for tips.

Sir Paul Stephenson, head of Scotland Yard, resigned his post Sunday, but denied any involvement in payment for police or in curbing the initial police investigation into the hacking cases.

Brooks' attorney, Stephen Parkinson, says police interviewed her for nine hours, but did not raise any allegations against her or showed her any documents connecting her with any crime, the BBC reports.

"They will in due course have to give an account of their actions and in particular their decision to arrest her with the enormous representational damage that this has involved."

Brooks, Murdoch and his son, James Murdoch, who is chairman of News International, are scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee Tuesday looking into the scandal.



John Yates, assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, is the second top police official in two days to resign over the British phone-hacking scandal.

Update at 9:23 a.m. ET: Yates has been heavily criticized by members of parliament for his original investigation into a phone-hacking scandal that he said at the time found that only a rogue journalist was responsible.

The 52-year-old, who heads the police counter-terrorism deparment, endured prolonged, hostile questions last week from a parliamentary committee over his one-day review of phone-hacking evidence in 2009 which concluded that there was no evidence to justify a further investigation.

London Mayor Boris Johnson says Yates resigned after being told he'd be suspended, the Associated Press reports.

On Sunday, Sir Paul Stephenson, head of Scotland Yard, resigned but said he was not involved in any alleged payoffs of police for tips.

Update at 10 a.m. ET: Prime Minister David Cameron has delayed the recess of the House of Commons by one day so that he can address the phone-hacking scandal.