British prosecutors consider phone-hacking charges

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LONDON, April 18 (UPI) -- Police said prosecutors have files on 11 suspects, including a police officer, to consider whether charges should be filed in the British phone-hacking scandal.

Officials said it is the first time police asked prosecutors to consider whether charges should be filed since the investigation in to the scandal began in January 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

Possible offenses include charges of misconduct in a public office, data protection act violations, perverting the course of justice, witness intimidation and Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act violations, Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions, said.

The files deal with allegations against four journalists, one police officer and six other suspects, Starmer said.

Starmer declined to offer a time table for a decision, saying, "We are now entering a period where we are likely to make a decision one way or another."

Forty-three people arrested in the phone-hacking scandal at the now closed News of the World remain on bail, Starmer said.