Witnesses Interviewed as Police and Murdoch Probes Into Dan Wootton Continue

Dan Wootton remains at the centre of several separate inquiries following a special investigation into catfishing and abuse of power allegations published by this newspaper this summer.

On 2 October, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it was looking into matters connected to a 40-year-old man arising from a series of Byline Times articles unmasking Wootton as the controller of catfishing pseudonyms ‘Martin Branning’ and ‘Maria Joseph’.

It can now be confirmed that officers of the Met’s Complex Investigation Team have interviewed a number of people over matters raised by the articles and in connection with other allegations that cannot be reported for legal reasons.

There have been no arrests, although a witness against whom Wootton made counter-allegations was told last month that they will face no further police action. Wootton has denied any implications of criminal activity.

Officers have meanwhile been taking statements from a number of men in England and Scotland.

“There is top-level interest in the case within the police,” one source said. “They are taking a belt-and-braces approach and will follow the evidence. There is a desire for people with information to come forward and get in touch via their local police station.”

News UK, publisher of The Sun – at which Wootton worked for eight years until 2021 and which has appointed external lawyers to look into the alleged targeting of employees and some celebrities – has yet to offer its findings to detectives, as it did in 2011 when it cooperated with a Scotland Yard inquiry into phone-hacking and bribery scandals.

However, sources close to the company speak of an investigation that continues to warrant further attention and remains a matter of corporate concern.