"End Search for Madeleine McCann"

A FORMER Flying Squad chief yesterday urged Scotland Yard to consider winding down its hunt for Madeleine McCann — adding: “You can’t keep chasing shadows.”
John O’Connor said the spiralling cost of the four-year investigation and the seeming lack of progress meant the Met must now ask itself whether resources should be focused elsewhere.
He added: “If there are no firm leads, and by that I mean no substantial operational things like active surveillance on suspects, then I’d have thought they should be considering winding it down now.”

His comments come as a Sun investigation today reveals the Met’s inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007 has cost taxpayers almost £11million.
At the current rate it will top £12million by April — more than double the £5million promised by David Cameron when Operation Grange was launched in May 2011.
The task force, which at its height was 37 strong, has yet to make a single arrest.
Tens of thousands of pounds have been spent on flights to Portugal and to investigate other sightings around the globe.
Mr O’Connor added: “You can’t keep chasing shadows. Chasing sightings all over the world. It depends on whether the detectives are making any real progress. For me it needs to be reviewed by a senior officer.

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Maybe enough time has elapsed to make it acceptable to general public that they have "done their utmost" and nothing has been found to progress the enquiry.

Or maybe now "natural wastage" as in officers retiring, moving to other branches has meant that those 37 officers can re- absorbed back into the Met instead of recruiting new officers from elsewhere.

In the Sun Mail and Mirror



Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash


920 SharesEx-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="fb-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6365024.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/£11m-spent-searching-for-Madeleine-McCann-main.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; display: inline-block;">Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="tw-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; display: inline-block;">Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="pn-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6365024.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/£11m-spent-searching-for-Madeleine-McCann-main.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; display: inline-block;">Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="wapp-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; display: inline-block;">


Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="fb-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6365024.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/£11m-spent-searching-for-Madeleine-McCann-main.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none;">Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="tw-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none;">Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="pn-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6365024.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/£11m-spent-searching-for-Madeleine-McCann-main.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none;">Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash" data-type="wapp-share" data-action="article:6365140" data-content-image="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(20, 20, 20); text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none;">


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PA


Missing: Madeleine McCann would be 12 years old now


British police hunting for missing Madeleine McCann have been advised to consider winding down the investigation by a former top cop.


Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash.


 


Mr O'Connor called for a senior officer to review Operation Grange - the Metropolitan Police's operation set up to find Maddie - and draw a line under it, if it was deemed to not be the best use of resources.


Speaking to The Sun, he said: "If there are no firm leads, and by that I mean no substantial operational things like active surveillance on suspects, then I’d have thought they should be considering winding it down now."

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Missing: Madeleine McCann would be 12 years old now  

British police hunting for missing [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] have been advised to consider winding down the investigation by a former top cop.
Ex-Flying Squad chief John O'Connor questioned whether or not the spiralling cost of looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the child was the best use of public cash.
Mr O'Connor called for a senior officer to review Operation Grange - the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] operation set up to find Maddie - and draw a line under it, if it was deemed to not be the best use of resources.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "If there are no firm leads, and by that I mean no substantial operational things like active surveillance on suspects, then I’d have thought they should be considering winding it down now."
The police operation to find Maddie was launched in May 2011 by Prime Minister David Cameron after the child went missing in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in four years earlier.


REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Resources: Some former officers would like the operation to be reviewed  
According to The Sun, Operation Grange has so far cost the British taxpayer almost £11 million, but this could balloon to £12 million by April next year.
The Missing Kids UK website has 155 children, including Maddie, registered but research shows an average of just £2,415 is spent investigating disappeared youngsters.
Mr O'Connor told The Sun: "You can’t keep chasing shadows. Chasing sightings all over the world. It depends on whether the detectives are making any real progress."
There are 30 officers and support staff currently working on Operation Grange and in March this year, Met Police Federation chairman John Tully voiced his concern about whether or not the investigation was a good use of cash.
He said: "It is surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring-fenced. I’ve heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of sources."
A source close to the McCanns said the family was eternally grateful to British police for launching the operation to find their daughter.

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And in the Daily Mail

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Published: 02:32, 2 September 2015  |  Updated: 06:11, 2 September 2015  

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+5
It has been reported that the nill of the Met Police enquiry to find Madeleine McCann, who went missing in Portugal eight years ago has topped £11million
A former police chief has called for the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann to be wound up.
Ex head of the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad, John O'Connor, has questioned whether probe should continue after it was revealed Scotland Yard has spent £11million on the case but have made no arrests.
The Metropolitan Police was tasked with investigating the disappearance after Madeleine's family made a personal plea to David Cameron in 2011.
A team of 31 British detectives are working exclusively to find the girl, who vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal eight years ago, with the enquiry codenamed Operation Grange.
Now, according to the Sun, the Met's enquiry into Madeleine's disappearance has cost £11million, with money spent on flights to Portugal, salaries, overtime and premises expenses but no arrests have been made.
They also report that if spending on the case continues at the current rate, the bill will top £12million by April - more than double the £5million promised by David Cameron when Operation Grange launched in 2011.
Mr O'Connor told the newspaper's Tom Wells: 'If there are no firm leads, and by that I mean no substantial operational things like active surveillance on suspects, then I'd have thought they should be considering winding it down.
'You can't keep chasing shadows. Chasing sightings all over the world. It depends on whether the detectives are making any real progress. For me, it needs to be reviewed by a senior officer.'


His comments echo those of Metropolitan Police Federation chairman John Tully, who earlier this year also called for the probe to be axed and the detectives reassigned to other investigations in the UK.
He said that officers in London are bemused why they are working round-the-clock fighting the threat from Islamic State-inspired jihadists and solving murders while the Operation Grange detectives are barred from helping.
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+5
Former Flying Squad commander John O'Connor, pictured,  has spoken out saying the Met should consider winding their operation down
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+5
A team of 31 British detectives are working exclusively to find the girl, who vanished from her parents’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Pictured are police searching sewers in the area earlier this year 
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+5
Police sniffer dogs search the area around Praia da Luz earlier this year.  The Met have spent money on flights to Portugal, salaries, overtime and premises expenses but no arrests




Mr Tully explained: ‘It is time to re-focus on what we need to do to keep London safe. We no longer have the resources to conduct specialist inquiries all over the world which have nothing to do with London.
‘It is surprising to see an inquiry like the McCann investigation ring-fenced. I have heard a few rumblings of discontent about it from lots of sources.'
Even though Madeleine’s parents Kate, 47, and Gerry, 46, live in Rothley, Leicestershire, Scotland Yard was handed the investigation because of its expertise in investigating complex murder cases.
Police chiefs ‘ring-fenced’ the inquiry to prevent officers working on other case, even though the force has been forced to make £600million in cuts over four years.
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+5
Even though Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, pictured, live in Leicestershire, Scotland Yard was handed the investigation because of its expertise in investigating complex murder cases
After the Portuguese inquiry was shelved as ‘unsolved’, the McCanns, who remain convinced their daughter is alive, appealed to Mr Cameron for assistance.
Since the girl, who would now be 11, vanished, every possible theory has been explored, including that she was kidnapped by a paedophile, killed during a botched burglary and her body dumped, snatched by traffickers and sold to a childless couple and that she wandered out of the apartment and died in a tragic accident.
However, not one shred of proof of what happened to Madeleine has been uncovered.
But the McCanns are said to be eternally grateful to the Met for their investigation.

John O'Connor is a media stooge/prostitute who is wheeled out from time to time to say what's required by the powers-that-be.

I guess it won't be many weeks now before an announcement is made that Grange is to be wound down:

"We did our very best, but have not managed to locate Madeleine or her abductor"

They are finding it difficult to string this out until the next Amaral appeal.

Interesting to read the comments on the Sun’s FB page, which are the only ones not subject to moderation before appearing, although even The Mail are struggling to come up with many pro-McCann comments, which they have normally managed to find in the past
 
Doesn’t look as if the art of bending public perception is working very well for those who can be bothered to comment.
 
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Funny also how the Sun, Mirror & Mail all hit this story today after weeks (months?) of inactivity. I wonder where the story has come from? (rhetorical)

First act of a new PR company?
 
Has he fallen out with Jerry Lawton in The Daily Star?

Yes, timing is everything. PM visiting Portugal today, to speak with their PM?

John O Connor comments 12/05/2007

Indicating no break in no intruder

Sceptic wrote:

John O Connor comments 12/05/2007

Indicating no break in no intruder

I wonder if he still thinks Maddie wandered out and went to the Baptista supermarket?

What is it with these top cops (i.e. Jim Gamble) that thinks Maddie wandered out of the apartment after leaving her cadaver scent behind the sofa?

Doug D wrote:Interesting to read the comments on the Sun’s FB page, which are the only ones not subject to moderation before appearing, although even The Mail are struggling to come up with many pro-McCann comments, which they have normally managed to find in the past
 
Doesn’t look as if the art of bending public perception is working very well for those who can be bothered to comment.
 
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Funny also how the Sun, Mirror & Mail all hit this story today after weeks (months?) of inactivity. I wonder where the story has come from? (rhetorical)

First act of a new PR company?
 
Has he fallen out with Jerry Lawton in The Daily Star?

Gurney's gone into overdrive, she's got through 3 keyboards this morning. Ask the dogs Pam?

Brooks 'back' (News UK, 'CEO') Cameron 'mesmerised' (AGAIN!) Within days of RB's 'return' (did she ever go 'away'?)......front page of Scum, (News UK), a Madeleine 'story'.

I 'agree' this is all, possibly 'related' to GA's 'appeal'

Operation Strange, has to, imo, 'stay in situ' until the appeal is 'heard'.

Can we now say, that the MET 'investigation' team, at OS, are 'incompetent' (adjective: not having or showing the necessary skills to do something successfully), 'imbeciles'?

As Philomena McCann called PJ 'officers' when 'they' 'failed' in their investigation to 'find' her darling wee niece, Madeleine.

Factually, the MET, OS, have actually 'spent' MORE time 'investigating' Madeleine's 'disappearance' than the PJ.!

And the MET still don't 'have a single clue' about what 'happened'?

Which is all very 'odd' seeing as ex DCI Redwood 'spent' the last YEARS of 'his' investigation (as SIO@OG) TELLING 'the world', 'Madeleine was a victim of a pre-planned 'crime', committed by a 'stranger' or 'burglators' or 'charidy' workers or a fat smelly man or the 'arguidoed' 'schitzo druggie' with his mates, the taxi 'driver' and young lad or (add your own).............but Madeleine was DEFINITELY NOT, a 'victim' of 'crime' by HER PARENTS OR THEIR FRIENDS OR ANY PEOPLE THEY 'KNEW''

(although the 30 year 'career' ex detective has spectacularly failed to provide a scintilla of 'evidence' that 'they' did NOT have 'involvement' in Madeleine's 'disappearance'.)

Bells and Legs, spring to mind!

Hi Jeanmonroe and other posters,
It certainly doe's look as though someone is orchestrating a grand final push for them now to end the search for Madeleine McCann?
As has been mentioned by Jeanmonroe, the involvement of a new PR(CM)RB,DC,jO'c and special friends John Tully,cohorts(Masosn's?)
Seriously,how can you have an investigation review by UK police(RB,Leveson for McCanns) and have a remit that excludes a certain group of special friends that were possibly the last people to see the missing/Abducted child as consistently stated by the parents with no evidence of an abductor?
Put all these things together and what we have as Dodgy Dave would say, it's a conspiracy theory,ie his comments to the Commons on child abuse by West Minister paedophiles?
To think Mr Cameron is suddenly heading to Portugal to discuss EU policies, just like GB did in 2007, what a cover up shame on the lot of you!!
Perhaps Dodgy Dave may have a couple of dogs with him on his trip,more like lap dog poodles, sorry to any poodles!

jeanmonroe wrote:Brooks 'back' (News UK, 'CEO') Cameron 'mesmerised' (AGAIN!) Within days of RB's 'return' (did she ever go 'away'?)......front page of Scum, (News UK), a Madeleine 'story'.

I 'agree' this is all, possibly 'related' to GA's 'appeal'

Operation Strange, has to, imo, 'stay in situ' until the appeal is 'heard'.

Can we now say, that the MET 'investigation' team, at OS, are 'incompetent' (adjective: not having or showing the necessary skills to do something successfully), 'imbeciles'?

As Philomena McCann called PJ 'officers' when 'they' 'failed' in their investigation to 'find' her darling wee niece, Madeleine.

Factually, the MET, OS, have actually 'spent' MORE time 'investigating' Madeleine's 'disappearance' than the PJ.!

And the MET still don't 'have a single clue' about what 'happened'?

Which is all very 'odd' seeing as ex DCI Redwood has told 'the world', 'Madeleine was a victim of a pre-planned 'crime', committed by a 'stranger' or 'burglators' or 'charidy' workers or a fat smelly man or the 'arguidoed' 'schitzo druggie' with his mates, the taxi 'driver' and young lad or (add your own).............but Madeleine was DEFINITELY NOT, a 'victim' of 'crime' by HER PARENTS OR THEIR FRIENDS OR ANY PEOPLE THEY 'KNEW''

(although the 30 year 'career' ex detective has spectacularly failed to provide a scintilla of 'evidence' that 'they' did NOT have 'involvement' in Madeleine's 'disappearance'.)

Bells and Legs, spring to mind!

Yep Jean, super cop Redwood ignored his basic gut instinct to start with the last person to see the missing child alive. Clearly not so much a good cop as a bad cop. Also that for a child of Maddie's age, 24 out of 25 cases of disappearances are at the hands of family or people the child knows.

Can some-one save the video before it is whooshed,please?


Watch it again from 1.50 onwards....he talks about a possible search using the supermarket as the epi-centre and says possibly 'encompassing the morgue' if I hear it correctly.

What morgue?

Tom Wells who 'wrote' the article in the Scum newspaper.

"Officers made the catastrophic mistake of deciding parents Kate and Gerry were the key suspects — and so failed to take elementary steps to secure evidence that might have caught the real abductors."
----------------------------------------------------------------------

(MIGHT have) CAUGHT.........'the real abductors'?

So Tom Wells knows, KNOWS, that Madeleine WAS, beyond contestation, 'abducted' by 'real' (as opposed to 'fake' abductors?) abductors then?

Was he 'there'?

Has he given OG this 'information'?

It might be THE 'clue' they are 'looking' for!

Tom Wells at News UK, 'knows' Madeleine WAS 'abducted'!

I wonder if he'd swear, on oath, in the High Court, that 'that' was 'true'!

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worriedmum wrote:Can some-one save the video before it is whooshed,please?


Watch it again from 1.50 onwards....he talks about a possible search using the supermarket as the epi-centre and says possibly 'encompassing the morgue' if I hear it correctly.

What morgue?

I think he`s saying `until you`ve encompassed them all` - must admit it does sound a bit like `the morgue`.

the mall

Yes I think you are correct, 'them all'. Thanks.

If you can 'stand it'

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'Commander' of this 'lot'!

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'End search'

WHAT 'search'?

Would that be the 'search' the McCann and Healy family 'members' have NOT partaken in, over the last 8 YEARS?

Would that be the 'search' the McCann's 'friends', after their 'whizz around', have NOT partaken in, over the last 8 YEARS?

Would that be the 'search' GM's tennis 'buddy', JW, was told by a McCann 'friend', that he 'wasn't needed' to help 'search' for his tennis buddie's 'abducted' child?

Ah, THAT 'search'!

Sir Bernard Hogan Howe keeping his head down, he of the sponsorship for the McCanns for the Find Madeleine McCann fund?
The one who was handed a dossier of crimes that may be committed against her family, which led to the vilification on live TV by Martin **nt via Rupert's Sky company of Mrs Brenda Leyland. for wanting to find out the truth!RIP Mrs.B.Leyland.
B.H.H, investigating the Murder, er disappearance of Madeleine McCann, freudain slip was it Bernard!!

Portugal Resident’s take on the story, with a bit of input at the bottom:

Second British police source slams €15 million Maddie Probe


A second British police source has called for “time out” in the hugely expensive hunt for missing Madeleine McCann.

With costs of four-year-old Operation Grange now at almost €15 million - over twice the amount pledged by British prime minister David Cameron when the investigation was launched in 2011 - former Flying Squad boss John O’Connor has told the UK’s Sun newspaper that Scotland Yard should “stop chasing shadows”.

His comments come six months after Metropolitan Police Federation chairman John Tully admitted police in UK were “baffled” as to why they are being kept on in the seemingly endless Maddie inquiry.

And by coincidence they come days before David Cameron is due back in Portugal for private talks with prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho.

Speculation as to what the two PMs will have on their agenda has already piqued the interest of the Portuguese press, but for the Sun O’Connor’s views come as the paper’s own investigations reveal the spiralling costs of Operation Grange are expected to hit €16.2 million (£12 million) by April, and there has still not been one arrest nor do there appear to be any firm leads.

As O’Connor told the paper: “You can’t keep chasing shadows. Chasing sightings all over the world. It depends on whether detectives are making any real progress. For me it (the investigation) needs to be reviewed by a senior officer”.

Met federation boss John Tully said much the same thing in March, adding that it was time for Scotland Yard to “refocus” and concentrate instead on keeping London safe “from the increasing threat of terrorism at home”.

Here, PJ police are famous for playing their cards close to their chests. Last week national director Pedro do Carmo told the Resident that Portuguese costs in the hunt that began eight years ago “cannot be quantified”.

“We don’t have budgets for specific investigations”, he explained, adding that, unlike the UK - where Grange has a 30-strong team working full time - the PJ team in Porto running the Portuguese hunt is not exclusively working on the British toddler’s disappearance.

“It has other cases”, he told us. “Other disappearances. None of them children”.

Carmo said the Portuguese investigation was analysed regularly.

“If it comes to a point where there is nothing more that we think we can do, if there is no perpetrator of the crime to be found, then the next step would be to archive”, he agreed.
But for the time being, “there is no deadline”.

“We are still working with the Metropolitan Police”, he stressed, and there has been an “enormous effort” in terms of PJ resources in the joint police collaboration.

As UK media follows-up the Sun’s exclusive this morning - focusing on the ever increasing millions of British taxpayers’ money spent on an inquiry that seems to be going nowhere - the paper ends it story revealing “there are 155 children on the Missing Kids UK website, including Madeleine. Research shows an average of £2,415 (€3,200) is spent investigating a missing child”.

John O’Connor is a former Scotland Yard commander whose comments and opinions are regularly carried by British newspapers.

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Is there any way to find out (via FOIA) whether or not they re-interviewed the Tapas 9 during the time they were spending £11 million? 

Someone must be accountable somewhere.

Hi Bluebag,
DCI Andy Redwood and I presume SCI Hamish Campbell declared that the Tapas group of friends were not Suspects, so if you're not a suspect for what reason would they need to interview you?

We have seen no hint of any questioning of the TAPAS 7 . However, why should we hear about it  - it is likely that it would not be publicised in any way.

We have no information on this - although the only thing I would note is that the TAPAS 7 have been more 'public' on their facebook pages since Jan 2015 than ever before
over these last 7 years. i.e we can see comments they have made re holidays etc. But that says nothing - other than they appear to be leading relatively normal lives. Who knows?

This was posted on Joana's excellent forum back in 2014  (before she was hounded to the point of no longer posting). Could this be more poignant today than it was back in June 2014, when it was posted on Joana's forum:

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«Power games

Their willingness to ruin lives was directly linked to their political power. MPs feared that they might find their own private behaviour being monstered on News International’s front pages. This is the power of the playground bully: he has only to beat up one or two children for all of them to start trying to placate him. Beyond that, government collectively feared having its agenda destroyed, its daily activity destabilised, its future terminated if Murdoch’s editors turned against it. Former ministers and senior Whitehall officials all tell the same tale – that as Murdoch increased the size of his empire, governments became obsessed with newspaper coverage, particularly that of the Sun.

The power which Coulson and Brooks enjoyed delivered the kind of access for which unscrupulous lobbyists will pay large bundles of cash. A tabloid editors she was courted by ministers. At the Leveson inquiry, Brooks disclosed 185 meetings with prime ministers, ministers and party leaders while apologising that her records were incomplete. At the News of the World, Coulson showed little enthusiasm for politics, according to former Downing Street officials, one of whom remembers him being invited for breakfast with Gordon Brown and showing so little interest in policy that the two men ended up talking about newspaper circulations. Brooks, however, was a different story.

Far more than Coulson, she played the game of power, exploiting her extraordinary social skills to build an unrivalled network of connections.

Backed by fear of what her journalists could do, Brooks used her access to get her way. She could do it over small things: “If she was going to the US and she realised she had no visa, all she had to do was to make a phone call to a minister, and they’d sort it out for her,” according to one former official. She used it to get stories. An adviser from the Ministry of Defence recalls the government being under pressure about British soldiers being killed and maimed by roadside bombs in Afghanistan: “We were told we couldn’t release all we were doing for opsec reasons, yet the MoD went ahead and gave the information to the Sun.”

More than that, she used her influence to try to change government policy, not simply and legitimately by publishing stories but privately with ministers by cajoling, insisting, playing on their fear. This might be aimed at scoring a victory for her newspapers – persuading the government to order a police review of the Madeleine McCann case as part of her strategy to encourage the toddler’s parents to let her newspapers serialise their book; pushing hard to end the career of Sharon Shoesmith, head of children’s services in Haringey, whom the Sun blamed for the death of Baby P. Shoesmith was sacked, a decision which was later described by the court of appeal as “intrinsically unlawful.” Or Brooks aimed at larger policy which suited the ideology of the Sun and of its owner – over crime, immigration, public spending and notoriously over Britain’s membership of the European Union and its potential involvement in the euro. (...)»

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Another old article worth a revisit.

Monday 18 July 2011 19.30 BST 

The Met and Murdoch: A cosy relationship that began in Wapping [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

No one wanted to acknowledge what was happening between News International and the police until it was too late



 

The resignations of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] are the result of close associations between the police and News International that go right back to the start of printing at Wapping.
An assistant commissioner was in charge of police operations to ensure that the News International product got out on to the streets. There is no doubt that Rupert Murdoch and his senior executives were extremely grateful for the assistance given by the police, and many police officers have enjoyed an unhealthy, close relationship with News International since those days.
In some ways this works for the benefit of the police in that they got the inside track on many stories which led to successful prosecutions. However the price to be paid seems to be turning a blind eye to some of the excesses that were employed by the News of the World in particular.
The department for professional standards at Scotland Yard mounted many operations against agents of News International and corrupt police but each case was dealt with as a stand-alone case. And nobody put together the pattern on endemic corruption that was emerging.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], a former commissioner, in his book Not for the Fainthearted, openly admits his friendship with many of the News International editors. Everybody thought that this was a safe association; it has taken the phone hacking scandal to blow the lid off it.
We are now in a position where two of the most senior officers in the country have resigned and Stephenson in particular is claiming that he has done nothing wrong, despite having accepted £12,000 of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. He should ask himself whether he would have been offered that hospitality had he been a police constable. If he received this hospitality because he was the commissioner, then he must have known it was wrong.

The recent revelations that Yates enjoyed [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] has similarly made his position untenable. Up until then I think he gave a good account of himself at the home affairs select committee and the hectoring by the chairman Keith Vaz was not called for. The fact that Vaz said Yates's evidence was "unconvincing" is really a euphemism for telling untruths. And there was no reason for him to have said that.
My own view is that these officers are not intrinsically dishonest but have behaved with breathtaking naivety.
Yates made a grave error of judgment in failing to properly reinvestigate the phone hacking case. I suspect that he was misled by other officers who were involved in the original investigation. All Yates needed to have done was to have employed a couple of junior officers to go through the 11,000 pages of paperwork and produce an analysis and a briefing paper on what they found.
The fact he failed to do that wouldn't seem to me to be sufficient grounds for him to resign.
I was at the Yard at the time of the last big corruption scandal involving pornography and there was a dismay that pervaded the Yard and I think that dismay now pervades the whole of the police force.
Police officers now really don't know where they stand. They want to be supportive of the commissioner but they are in a position now where they see that the commissioner has gone, the assistant commissioner has gone, they have no clear leader and they are in limbo until someone can get hold of this organisation and put it back on track.
I think there is going to be a need to understand as far as gratuities are concerned what's acceptable and what isn't. It isn't acceptable to take a gratuity and then just record it in the hospitality book. That's no longer good enough for officers of any rank. And if senior officers have been labouring under the misapprehension that rank has its privileges, well it doesn't. They must abide by the same rules and the same protocol as every other officer up and down the country.





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