Former NOTW Journalist Who Followed Prince William, Kate Middleton in L.A. Arrested in Phone-Hacking Inquiry

3:51 AM PDT 8/18/2011 by Stuart Kemp

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Award-winning scribe James Desborough is first U.S.-based journo to be pulled in.

LONDON – Former News of The World reporter and award winner James Desborough, one of the pack of journos who travelled with Prince William and Kate Middleton on their post-honeymoon trip to Los Angeles, has been arrested by police investigating the ongoing phone-hacking storm.

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Desborough is the first U.S. based journalist to be arrested in the fallout from the ongoing maelstrom currently buffeting News International, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp’s publishing division which owned and operated the newspaper.

Desborough was detained on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977, and on suspicion of corruption allegations contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police declined to comment further when contacted by The Hollywood Reporter.

These are thought to be the same charges brought against former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks last month and former News of The World managing director Stuart Kuttner at the beginning of August.

Like Brooks and Kuttner before him, Desborough was arrested at a pre-arranged meeting at a London police station.

The allegations are reported by The Guardian newspaper here to relate to activities before Desborough was promoted by NOTW to be the paper’s L.A. based U.S. editor in April 2009.

His arrest is the 13th made by Operation Weeting, the name of the police operation set up to investigate the ongoing phone-hacking

At the 2009 British Press Awards ceremony, Desborough was praised by judges for his series of "uncompromising scoops” before being presented with an award.

Desborough joined NOTW in 2005 and broke a slew of stories about celebrities here. He was writing for the paper right up until News International closed it down last month.

His final story for the online version of the paper was July 8, two days before it closed, claiming Middleton was to act in a Hollywood film.