Police chief: I failed victims of News of the World phone hacking - Telegraph

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Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner John Yates says his decision not to reopen an investigation into News International in 2009 had been “a pretty crap one”, which he now deeply regretted. In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Yates also accuses senior executives at the Murdoch-owned company of failing to co-operate with the original Scotland Yard inquiry, first begun in 2005. The newspaper had covered up the “industrial scale” of its phone hacking operation by insisting that one “rogue reporter” was to blame. He says Scotland Yard’s reputation had been “very damaged” by its failures and adds: “I have regrettably said the initial inquiry was a success. Clearly now that looks very different.” Mr Yates had the opportunity to reopen the case in 2009 but chose not to do so after just eight hours’ consideration, including consultations with other senior detectives and Crown Prosecution lawyers. His admission coincides with the News of the World publishing today for the last time in its 168-year history. In a further series of twists in the phone hacking scandal, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal: • Max Mosley, who won a privacy case against the News of the World over articles detailing his sadomasochistic sexual practices, has been secretly bankrolling civil cases being brought by phone hacking victims against the tabloid; • Rebekah Brooks will be questioned by police in coming days, according to a senior News International source; • Rupert Murdoch, who is expected to fly into Britain today, may be called to give evidence at a parliamentary inquiry; • Mrs Brooks has written to the home affairs select committee, saying she had “no reason to believe” hacking had taken place at other News International titles. In his interview, Mr Yates addresses last week’s revelation that Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the News of the World, had allegedly hacked into teenage murder victim Milly Dowler’s mobile phone and then deleted messages. “We are all extremely shocked by it and it is a matter of massive regret we didn’t deal with it earlier,” he says. “My byword has always been you look after the victims and the job will always resolve itself. I always put the victim first but here I didn’t follow my principle and that is my greatest regret.” Milly Dowler’s details — along with those of other alleged phone hacking victims including relatives of dead soldiers, 7/7 victims and the Soham schoolgirls killed by Ian Huntley — were contained in 11,000 pages of material seized by police when Mulcaire was first arrested in 2006. Mr Yates was asked by the Met Commissioner to look at the case again in July 2009, amid growing disquiet at the scale of the hacking. He concluded within the space of a working day that there was no fresh material that could lead to further convictions. Mr Yates says: “I didn’t do a review. Had I known then what I know now — all bets are off: I would never have reached this conclusion … I am accountable and it happened on my watch and it’s clear I could have done more.” Of the News of the World’s failure to disclose emails relating to the case until January this year — and whether that might constitute a criminal offence — he says: “That is a matter for the new team. In my view, it was extremely unhelpful to receive it five or six years later.” Asked if he thought Mrs Brooks should quit, Mr Yates replies: “I think it is a matter for Rebekah, her company and her conscience.” He says that any officers found to have been paid money by the News of the World for information would be jailed and adds that the whole scandal has been “a very damaging episode for us and we have got to work hard to rebuild the trust in the Met”. The police face being dragged through the civil courts by claimants, including Brian Paddick, the former deputy assistant commissioner, who accuse the Met of failing in their duty of care by neglecting to inform possible victims of phone hacking whose names appeared on Mulcaire’s list. Officers with Operation Weeting, the hacking investigation, are now combing Mulcaire’s papers and contacting possible victims systematically. One source close to the Metropolitan Police Authority said: “We have seen serious lapses of judgement right at the top of the Met. “It would not surprise me if senior officers did things that now look stupid and potentially compromising — but that is not the same as something potentially criminal.” Yesterday, speaking publicly for the first time since the announcement of the News of the World’s closure, Rupert Murdoch said it was “a collective decision”. Mr Murdoch, attending a media conference in Idaho in America, refused to elaborate. The mounting crisis has badly affected share prices in both News Corp, News International’s parent company, and BSkyB, the broadcaster it part owns. Permission for a full takeover of BSkyB has been delayed by the Government as a result of the crisis and could be refused. Tom Watson, the Labour MP who has played a central role in publicising many of the phone hacking allegations, called on Mr Murdoch to be hauled before MPs. He said: “After James Murdoch’s statement, in which he admitted that a parliamentary committee had been misled, I will insist that Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks come to the Culture Media and Sport committee to explain themselves. Rupert Murdoch is the most powerful media mogul in the UK and he has never answered questions in Parliament.” The Church of England’s investment arm said it was considering withdrawing nearly £4 million worth of shares it holds in News Corp. In a further development, Tony Blair was yesterday forced to deny allegations that he had contacted Gordon Brown before the last election to try to prevent Mr Watson pursuing phone hacking allegations. In a final email to staff yesterday, Colin Myler, the outgoing editor of the News of the World, said: “I could not have been more proud or privileged to have you as my colleagues. Let’s try to make the most of this incredibly sad but historic day.” The man he replaced, Andy Coulson, who was arrested on Friday, said outside his home yesterday that he really “felt for” staff facing redundancy. It also emerged yesterday that Mrs Brooks wrote last week to Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, which is planning to question a series of people over the scandal. They will question police this week. Mrs Brooks told them there was “no reason to believe” the practice had taken place at News International’s other titles — which include the Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times. She also reiterated her denial of any knowledge of hacking during her editorship.Last night David Cameron set broad terms for the twin inquiries that will be conducted to explore the issues raised by the phone hacking scandal. The first, led by a judge to be appointed by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, will be held in public and have the power to summon witnesses to be cross examined under oath. It will focus on phone hacking allegations and any other allegedly illegal or improper acts at the News of the World or any other newspaper and the way these were investigated by police. For the second inquiry, a “credible panel of senior figures”, will be asked to recommend a new framework for press regulation — striking a suitable balance between the importance of maintaining a free press and protecting the rights of individuals, Mr Cameron said

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John O'Connor: The suspects are in charge of the case
News International and the Metropolitan Police are looking into corruption at Wapping. But face-saving is their priority

Scotland Yard is facing its worst corruption crisis since the 1970s, when senior police officers were found to be controlling London's pornography industry. The investigation and subsequent purge left many detectives out of a job and in some case serving prison sentences. The gloom that surrounded the Yard in those days is similar to the atmosphere that pervades it today.

Each day reveals more details of misconduct by the press and the police. The investigation is going to be looking for heads to roll, and the higher the rank the better. This extraordinary state of affairs has its roots back in the Eighties, in the days when News International was dependent on the police to protect its new premises in Wapping.

Violent demonstrations occurred each night and the police were able to assist News International in getting its product out on to the streets. This was a complete turnaround for The Times newspaper, which only a decade earlier had launched the huge inquiry into police corruption that shook Scotland Yard to its foundations. News International was now best friends with Scotland Yard, and senior executives and top policemen wined and dined together on a regular basis.

Nobody could see the potential problems of a free lunch. This mutual admiration society worked very well for a time. Information passed freely both ways. The police benefited from undercover operations run by the newspapers, and in return the papers got their exclusive stories. This comfortable arrangement was cemented by regular briefings from Scotland Yard's press bureau to the national press directly and sometimes through the Crime Writers Association.

The culture of police officers mixing with journalists was encouraged, and little thought was given to the potential of misconduct. Crime writers were expected to know lots of police officers, and there was great competition to get the inside story. If only things could have stayed the same.

The News of the World began to pursue a strategy of aggressively targeting celebrities. The use of "the Fake Sheikh", Mazher Mahmood, was very effective, and produced some exclusive exposés on the greed and stupidity of people who should have known better. They were able to obtain confidential information on individuals including criminal records but they were in too much of a hurry to research public records.

Some private detective agencies realised that there was money to be earned from celebrity stories and confidential crime stories. Some of these detective agencies were run by former Metropolitan Police officers who maintained good contacts with serving officers. Some ex-police officers set themselves up as stringers, and provided a conduit for confidential information supplied by officers directly to the press. Once the Rubicon had been crossed, it was comparatively easy for police officers to contravene the Data Protection Act and supply information from the Police National Computer.

Short cuts adopted by the News of the World put them closer to the coalface. The strategy of using several intermediaries was abandoned and they employed private detectives such as Jonathan Rees of Southern Investigations and Glenn Mulcaire. This was clearly cheaper but the drawback was that if the private detectives came unstuck so did those who hired them.

The Department of Professional Standards at Scotland Yard has not been standing idly by. A number of undercover operations were mounted against ex- and serving police officers who were suspected of receiving corrupt payments. Nobody in authority was prepared to recognise the endemic nature of this corruption and each case was dealt with as a stand-alone incident. Much the same attitude was adopted when Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman were convicted of hacking messages of members of the royal family.

At this stage, the number of police officers involved is unknown. News International's attempts to switch the focus of the inquiry onto the police by releasing details of payments to officers raised more questions than answers. The obvious questions are "What about payments to intermediaries?" and "What were the payments for?" Hospitality and gifts must also be probed.

The two organisations that are carrying out the investigations are... the Metropolitan Police and News International, both of whom are the subject of these allegations.

It is with breathtaking cheek that News International announced its own investigation. It is quite clear that getting to the truth is not a goal, its real objective is damage limitation and face-saving. It is quite clear that any number of junior staff will be sacrificed in order the save the skins of the real decision-makers. The News International investigation should be laughed out of court, not that it is ever likely to get there.

The new police investigation is even more curious. Everybody wants to know why the original hacking investigation was curtailed after the convictions of Mulcaire and Goodman. It seems unlikely that this decision was made solely by the police, but it is a possibility, and if so, why?

The suspicion must be that pressure was brought to bear by either News International, the Crown Prosecution Service or a very high-ranking police officer, or perhaps a combination of all three.

The new police investigation into hacking has been running since January 2011 and the police corruption enquiry has only just begun. It seems to me that this is a classic situation whereby an outside police force should be used, under the supervision of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. There is clear precedent for using an outside force, and if the public are to be convinced that this is a fair and unbiased investigation then that should clearly point to using an independent force outside of London.

This is no reflection on the skill, determination or ability of Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, but the pressure which killed off the first enquiry might still exist.

The Metropolitan Police had one go at this and fell very short. At risk is the reputation and integrity of the service. It cannot afford to get it wrong again. The problem is that senior officers did not recognise the extent of the corruption and were probably unwilling to upset their new found pals in the media.

They must accept their responsibility for what has happened. It is astonishing that with so many resources being spent on anti-corruption, they could not see it when it was right under their noses.

John O'Connor is former commander of the Flying Squad at Scotland Yard

John O'Connor: The suspects are in charge of the case - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent