Piers Morgan Questioned By Hacking Detectives

Piers Morgan has been interviewed under police caution in connection with phone hacking, it has emerged.

The CNN broadcaster confirmed he was questioned on December 6 over allegations of phone hacking at the Daily Mirror, where he was editor from 1995 until 2004.

Scotland Yard did not name Morgan, but said a 48-year-old journalist had agreed voluntarily to an interview at a south London police station, adding that he was not arrested.

Morgan was questioned by officers from Operation Golding, which is investigating allegations of hacking at the Mirror Group Newspapers.

Sky Home Affairs Correspondent Mark White said: "We don't know too much publicly about Operation Golding - it doesn't have the same high profile as Operation Weeting."

Golding is connected to Operation Weeting, which has been looking into hacking at News Of The World.

White added: "Piers Morgan is interesting in regards to phone hacking because his name has been mentioned on several occasions during the Old Bailey trial of a number of people accused of phone hacking, and also at the Leveson inquiry."

Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman told the Leveson inquiry into media ethics in 2012 that Morgan had once told him how mobile phone messages were hacked while the pair were at a lunch.

Morgan later responded to Paxman's evidence, writing on Twitter: "Right - that's the last time I'm inviting Jeremy Paxman to lunch. Ungrateful little wretch."

Morgan has always denied involvement in phone hacking, including when he gave evidence to the Leveson inquiry in 2011.

He told the inquiry that he had heard an audio recording of a voicemail message left on Heather Mills' mobile phone by Paul McCartney.

But Morgan refused to tell the inquiry details of when he heard the message for fear of revealing his source.

The Mirror Group was brought into the hacking investigation for the first time last March when Weeting detectives arrested four journalists.

Allegations against them focused on the Sunday Mirror in 2003 and 2004.

The Mirror Group has denied hacking happened at any of its newspapers.

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