A week ago in the US, News Corp London refugee, James Murdoch boasted that the company had been able to put the sticky story (“the problem”, as he called it) about the News Of The World phone hackings “into a box”.

That was after News International had apologised for the phone hacking and offered to settle a limited number of cases.

Overnight in London, News Corp’s hopes and that boast from the refugee blew up when British police arrested a third senior News of The World executive. The arrest damages News’ leaked confidence that it has the situation under control.

With only a couple of weeks to the final decision by the UK Government on the News Corp bid for the rest of BSkyB, the Murdoch empire is under renewed pressure on the phone hacking story that just won’t be controlled by the usual application of money, influence and political blackmail and abuse in print.

“Executives clear desk of news editor James Weatherup hours before police arrive”, The Guardian reported.

Weatherup was news editor at the News of the World between 2004 and 2006 under then-editor Andy Coulson, which means the scandal is now getting very serious as the next one to go could be even higher up the food chain at the paper.

British papers reported that after his role as news editor, Weatherup went back to being a senior reporter on the tabloid newspaper but kept his job title. A bit like the retired majors and colonels who are scattered across the English landscape.

Now the toll at the paper reads the former royal reporter, Clive Goodman (and the external private detective, Glenn Mulcaire), both jailed. Plus, former assistance news editor Ian Edmonson, chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck and now Weatherup arrested. Then there’s the former editor, Andy Coulson, who resigned as David Cameron’s media adviser in January, and senior journalist, Greg Miskiw, who has been implicated by documents police took from Glenn Mulcaire.

Remember that up until the start of this year News Corp and News International had insisted the scandal was caused by firstly a “rogue reporter” and the private eye (Goodman and Mulcaire) and then a “small cabal” after Edmonson was stood down.

Now there’s an apology, but the words ‘sorry’ and ‘we were wrong’ were nowhere to be seen. That apology has been exposed as a legal stratagem by News management and their lawyers to try and corral would-be complaints towards a settlement by raising the prospect of huge legal costs if they go on with their cases.

British newspapers reported that not only was Mr Weatherup’s house in Romford, Essex, searched by police but the contents of his desk are now being examined by police. The Guardian pointed out: “What is also significant about yesterday’s arrest of a hitherto relative unknown is that the police have worked at such intensity and speed.”

Apparently Weatherup’s arrest shocked even those at News of the World. But The Guardian also asked a good question: “News International insists it is cooperating with police and trying to root out anyone who was involved in hacking, so why did it bag up evidence from the desk of James Weatherup, the executive arrested yesterday, and remove it from the building?”

Yes, did the paper hand over all the stuff on Weatherup’s desk, or did they and their lawyers go through it to make sure there was no dynamite?

And then there’s the very curious case of Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International, who this week corrected evidence she had given to a UK parliamentary committee back in 2003 when she said the News Of The World (she was editor) paid police. Surely that is a record for uncorrected evidence?

Now The Guardian asks: “When she was editor of the News of the World between 2000 and 2003, was Rebekah Brooks (then Wade) aware of the activities of Jonathan Rees, a private detective who the paper paid to buy information from police officers and obtain data by other illegal means?”

Doesn’t seem like the issue has been put “into a box” yet.