Former News of the World editor held, accused of perjury May 30, 2012 -- Updated 1244 GMT (2044 HKT) File photo of former News of the World editor and Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson. Scottish police detain Andy Coulson on suspicion of perjury The former editor of News of the World became British PM David Cameron's spokesman He was arrested separately by London police last year London (CNN) -- A former editor of Rupert Murdoch's disgraced News of the World tabloid was detained Wednesday on perjury charges over court testimony about phone hacking. Andy Coulson, 44, was held in connection with a Scottish police investigation into phone hacking and perjury at the trial of politician Tommy Sheridan. The case is potentially deeply embarrassing for British Prime Minister David Cameron, who hired Coulson to run his communications team after Coulson resigned from the News of the World. Scotland's Glasgow-based Strathclyde Police announced Wednesday that they had detained a 44-year-old man in London on suspicion of perjury. They did not name him. At the high court in Glasgow, Scotland, in December 2010, Coulson denied on the stand that he had ever met or spoken to a private detective employed by News of the World to hack phones, according to British press reports at the time. Coulson quit when a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, and the paper's royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, were sent to prison in 2007 for hacking phones. Coulson has always denied knowing about illegal activity at the paper he ran. He said he quit because he was responsible as editor for what his staff did. He was snapped up by Cameron shortly after he left the Murdoch paper. Coulson was arrested separately by London police last year on suspicion of conspiracy to hack phones and to bribe officials. He is currently free on bail. Phone hacking at News of the World has sparked three separate investigations by police in London, two parliamentary probes and a judge-led independent inquiry. The newspaper was closed down in July 2011. CNN's Roger Clark contributed to this report.