Leveson: Current and former MPS officers to appear

A series of current and former Metropolitan police (MPS) representatives will appear before the Leveson inquiry from Monday, as the inquiry moves into its second module looking at the relationship between the press and police.

Deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers – who is leading the Metropolitan Police's phone hacking investigation – will be one of the first witnesses to appear, as one of three to give evidence on Monday.

Former Scotland Yard deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick, who alleged that police failed to conduct a proper investigation into phone hacking will also appear on Monday along with Lord John Prescott, who received a £40,000 settlement in his phone hacking claim against News Group Newspapers, the former publisher of the defunct News of the World.

According to witness lists published today, over the rest of the week the inquiry will hear from a number of other current and former representatives of the Metropolitan police including former commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and former assistant commissioner John Yates, who both resigned in July last year.

Former deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke and former MPS assistant commissioner Andy Hayman are also both due to appear before the inquiry.

Last year all four men – Stephenson, Yates, Clarke and Hayman – were cleared of misconduct by the Independent Police Complaints Commission in relation to the handling of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, after being referred to the commission  by the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Earlier today the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced the launch of an investigation into an allegation of "inappropriate disclosure of information" between a senior Metropolitan police officer and News International executive "during the original 2006 phone-hacking investigation".

The commission said "at this stage there is no evidence to suggest any inappropriate payment, of any sort, having been made to the senior MPS officer".

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