If prosecutors decide to charge several people over the allegations surrounding former News of the World journalists, all the defendants would be tried at the same time, The Daily Telegraph has been told.
The parallel police inquiries into phone hacking and police corruption means any trials are likely to be delayed until the spring of 2013 as detectives sift through thousands of documents.
But because of the risk that one or more of the possible defendants could face trial relating to both inquiries, the media is likely to be banned from reporting any of the evidence in any of the trials until all have been concluded.
The phone hacking scandal took yet another twist yesterday when a Scotland Yard detective was arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential information about the inquiry to The Guardian.
It is thought that the arrest follows a series of online articles in The Guardian which disclosed the identities of people who were about to be or had just been arrested. The identity of the 51-year old detective constable has not been disclosed. He was arrested on Thursday by the anti-corruption unit of Scotland Yard and bailed to return next month.
In a statement, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the phone hacking investigation, said: “I made very clear when I took on this investigation the need for operational and information security. It is hugely disappointing that this may not have been adhered to.”
The police investigation into the News of the World has increased in size and scope over the past few months and is now one of the biggest criminal inquiries in Britain. There are more than 60 officers working on the investigation.
On Thursday, officers also made another arrest, of a former News of the World employee. Dan Evans, 35, a feature writer, attended a London police station and was held for questioning on suspicion of conspiring to unlawfully intercept voicemails. Mr Evans was suspended by the News of the World after the interior designer Kelly Hoppen, stepmother to the actress Sienna Miller, brought a damages claim alleging that he tried to hack into her voicemails in June 2009.
The now-defunct tabloid and lawyers for the journalist have said an extensive investigation found no evidence to support her claims. It is thought that Scotland Yard arrested him over separate phone hacking allegations.
Mr Evans joined the News of the World in 2005 and has been suspended since April 2010. He is the 14th person to be arrested on suspicion of involvement in phone hacking.
A well-placed source told the Telegraph that any defendants charged with phone hacking are expected to be tried together, though any trial is unlikely to begin before the spring of 2013 because of the sheer volume of evidence the police still have to go through.
The source added that if there was a trial over phone hacking, and if any of the defendants also faced charges over police corruption, lawyers would be likely to ask for a reporting ban to avoid prejudicing any subsequent trial.
Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective imprisoned for phone hacking, has been ordered by the High Court to disclose who at the News of the World asked him to listen to voicemails on the mobile phones of Elle Macpherson, the model, and Steve Coogan, the comedian. Mulcaire will have to comply with the request by September.
A News International spokeswoman said: “We are fully co-operating with the police investigation and we are unable to comment further on matters due to ongoing police investigations.”
A spokesman for Guardian News & Media said: “We note the arrest of a Scotland Yard detective on suspicion of misconduct in a public office relating to unauthorised disclosure of information.
“On the broader point raised by the arrest, journalists would no doubt be concerned if conversations between off-the-record sources and reporters came routinely to be regarded as criminal activity. In common with all news organisations, we have no comment to make on the sources of our journalism.”
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