Yard chief John Yates ‘knew News of World hired second private eye’

tom_watson‏@tom_watson

And do you really think the police follow up clear intelligence? See this new Yates story: [url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/yard-chief-yates-knew-news-of-world-hired-second-private-eye-8300264.html …][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] …[/url]








Yard chief John Yates ‘knew News of World hired second private eye’

09 November 2012



Former Met chief John Yates was allegedly informed that high-profile figures were targeted by a private detective for News International five months before Scotland Yard finally agreed to re-open investigations into the Murdoch media empire.



The ex-deputy commissioner was personally sent evidence to suggest that Lord Prescott, Kate Middleton and other public figures were victims of a notorious private investigator in 2006, the Standard has been told.

But Mr Yates continued with Scotland Yard’s defence of its much-maligned original probe into News International for another five months. He allegedly received the new documents in September 2010, when fresh allegations had forced him to conduct a “full scope” of hacking evidence held by the Met.

But his review concluded News International had no further case to answer and for the next five months the Yard stuck to its claim that News of the World hacking was confined to “one rogue reporter” and another private detective, Glenn Mulcaire.

When contacted about the new revelation, the Met said it was “not prepared to give a running commentary on our investigations”.

Mr Yates, who was also former head of national counter-terror operations, said he could not comment.

Lord Prescott today angrily claimed the Met never told him he was a possible victim of the second private investigator — who cannot be named for legal reasons — despite him receiving an embarrassing public apology from the Yard this year over its failure to warn him he had been targeted by Mulcaire.

The former deputy prime minister told the Standard: “In 2006 I was working with the highest security clearance and chairing Cobra security committees when Tony Blair was away. And the Met didn’t think this was worth telling me?

"Then, in 2010, Yates is again reminded that I was the victim of criminal actions and again chooses not to say anything to me. I appear to have been misled once again. My apology from Scotland Yard is not worth the paper it’s written on.”

In January 2007 former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed for hiring Mulcaire to hack into the mobile phones of aides to Prince William.

Mr Yates led the Met’s response to the phone hacking scandal from July 2009 when the Guardian newspaper alleged police knew the News of the World hired private investigators to hack into thousands of mobile phones, but limited inquiries solely to the royal aides.

Lord Prescott was named as a target by the newspaper but told the Leveson inquiry Mr Yates called him the same day to say the story was false.

But he remained suspicious and the Met finally apologised this year and admitted he was a victim of Mulcaire. Mr Yates resigned in the wake of the phone hacking scandal in July last year.

The other private investigator, a convicted criminal, told the Standard the Met seized documents from him in February 2007, but he denied committing any illegal acts.

Lawyer Tamsin Allen, who acted for Lord Prescott, said the new information was “astonishing” and she would demand a “full explanation” from the Met

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