Police today searched the offices of the Daily Star following the arrest of its journalist Clive Goodman, the former News of the World Royal editor jailed for phone-hacking in 2007.
Goodman, who joined the Daily Star Sunday after serving a six-month sentence for phone-hacking, was arrested in connection with alleged illegal payments to police this morning.
A spokesman for the company confirmed police had “sought the help” of the Daily Star Sunday in their ongoing investigation into allegations of police corruption involving the News of the World.
A statement from the newspaper said: “They confirmed they were similarly carrying out these routine checks at all places where Mr Goodman has worked as a freelance since he left the News of the World.
“Officers formally requested any-and-all computer material that Goodman had been involved with during his occasional shifts as a freelance reporter at the paper over the last year to cross-check it with his activities in his News of the World role.
“They were particularly interested to check Mr Goodman’s current email contacts to cross-match them with those from his time at the News of the World.
“There was no suggestion whatsoever that Mr Goodman had acted improperly during his occasional shifts at the Daily Star Sunday, and we can confirm that no payments of any kind were ever made by the newspaper to Clive Goodman contacts.
“After requesting the Daily Star Sunday’s help, police were invited to visit the newspaper’s offices where they were provided with a copy of all Mr Goodman’s computer activity.
“The three officers were similarly invited to examine any desk where Mr Goodman may have sat during shifts. They left after approximately two hours with a disc of Mr Goodman’s computer activity.
“For the record, the Daily Star Sunday has never carried, and has never been accused of carrying, any story that might have stemmed from phone-hacking.”
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