Operation Tuleta is a British police investigation by the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Service into allegations of

computer hacking A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

, related to the

News International phone hacking scandal The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...

. As of June 2011, it was reported to have six officers working for it. According to a report in the London ''Evening Standard'', Operation Tuleta was at that time a "scoping exercise" prior to a possible full investigation. On 29 July 2011,

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

reported a statement from the Metropolitan Police: "Some aspects of this operation will move forward to a formal investigation. There will be a new team reporting to DAC Sue Akers". This followed a statement given to Channel 4 News by former army intelligence corporal Ian Hurst (aka

Martin Ingram Martin Ingram is the pseudonym of ex-British Army soldier Ian Hurst, who served in the Intelligence Corps and Force Research Unit (FRU). He has made a number of allegations about the conduct of the British Army, its operations in Northern Ire ...

): "Police officers working for Operation Tuleta have informed me that they have identified information of evidential value in regard to my family's computer being illegally accessed over a sustained period of 2006. The decision by the Metropolitan Police to proceed to a full criminal investigation was conveyed to me this week by Tuleta police officers".

Arrests

On 24 November 2011, a 52-year-old man was arrested in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

"on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences". He was the first person arrested under Operation Tuleta and was subsequently released on police bail. In February 2012, during evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Akers mentioned the existence of

Operation Kalmyk In February 2012, during evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the British press, Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers mentioned the existence of Operation Kalmyk, a new investigation rela ...

, a new investigation related to Operation Tuleta. She also said that Operation Tuleta had about 20 police officers, who were looking into 57 claims of "data intrusion" on behalf of journalists. She added that they were examining 4

terabytes The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...

of data. On 24 February 2012, it was announced that two men were arrested for hacking. On 5 April 2012, it was revealed in the Press that one of these two men was Steve Hayes, at the time owner of

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

Rugby Club and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

Football Club. He was arrested on suspicion of offences under the

Computer Misuse Act 1990 The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced partly in response to the decision in ''R v Gold & Schifreen'' (1988) 1 AC 1063 (see below). Critics of the bill complained that it was introduced hastily ...

and the

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ( c.23) (RIP or RIPA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of comm ...

. They were taken to London police stations and later bailed to return in June and July 2012 pending further enquiries. These arrests were not directly linked to any news organisation or the activities of journalists. On 13 July 2012, it was announced that, following the arrest of a 55-year-old man in Cardiff, the number of arrests under Operation Tuleta had risen to six. A seventh person, believed to be a ''Sun'' journalist, was arrested in North London on 19 July. An eighth person, reported to be the ''Sun'' chief foreign correspondent

Nick Parker General Sir Nicholas Ralph Parker, (born 13 October 1954) is a former British Army officer who served as Commander Land Forces (formerly Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces) until December 2012. As a general officer, Parker served in Northern Irel ...

, was arrested by appointment, and released on bail on the 30 July 2012. A ninth person, a 37-year-old ''Sun'' journalist, was arrested on 31 July. A tenth person, a 44-year-old man, was arrested on the 23 August, 2012. An eleventh person, described by reports as the former ''Times'' journalist Patrick Foster, was arrested on 29 August. On 7 September 2012, a 33-year-old journalist was arrested, bringing the number of people arrested in relation to Operation Tuleta to 12. In all, 18 people have been arrested in relation to Operation Tuleta. The details of the remaining five people are somewhat vague, but the 18th person was a 45-year-old woman arrested on 8 November 2012. Arrests on 18th Sept 2013 reached 21 with a 58-year-old ex private detective being detained by Thames Valley Police. Ben Ashford of "The Sun" first to be named over Op Tuleta. Steven A McIntyre ex police detective identified as the 21st arrested person.

References

{{2011 News Corporation scandal Tuleta News International phone hacking scandal 2011 establishments in the United Kingdom

Arrests

See also

References