Phone hacking: IPCC clears Met officers of misconduct

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has cleared four senior Metropolitan police officers of misconduct in in relation to the force's response to the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

Former commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, former assistant commissioners John Yates and Andy Hayman, and former deputy assistant commissioner Peter Clarke were referred to the IPCC by the Metropolitan Police Authority in relation to their involvement the Met's handling of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

Stephenson and Yates both resigned as a result of heavy criticism levelled at the Met investigation, and all four men appeared before the home affairs select committee to give evidence about the Met's investigation and the relationships between senior Met officers and members of staff at Rupert Murdoch's News International.

In a statement released today (17 August), IPCC deputy chair Deborah Glass acknowledged that the Met was guilty of a "perceived inadequate response", but said that the commission had found no conduct by the four officers referred for scrutiny that needed to be investigated.

Stephenson was referred to the IPCC because of his responsibility, as senior officer, for the alleged failings of Yates. But Glass said that while Stephenson was "in principle answerable for decisions made on his watch as Commissioner for the Metropolis, I do not think he committed a misconduct offence because one of his officers may have carried out a poor investigation".

The IPCC has also decided said that Stephenson's controversial acceptance of hospitality at Champneys Spa does not merit further scrutiny. Stephenson's stay at Champney's made the headlines in part because the spa's PR firm is owned by Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive was was subsequently employed by Stephenson to conduct PR for the Met police, and later arrested in connection with the phone hacking scandal.

Glass said it was up to the public to "make its own judgements about whether any senior public official should accept hospitality to this extent from anyone - or indeed about a policy which regards hospitality as acceptable merely because it is disclosed".

In relation to Yates, Glass's statement acknowledged that he had made a "poor decision" in 2009 in deciding not to mount a fresh phone-hacking investigation following revelations in the Guardian, but decided ultimately that further investigation of his conduct was unnecessary given that he has already made six separate appearances to give evidence on the matter before parliamentary committees.

The IPCC continues to investigate Yates’s alleged involvement in securing a Met police job for Wallis' daughter. Responding to the IPCC findings, Yates said: "I strongly deny any wrongdoing and I am completely confident that I will be exonerated."

According to today's statement, any scrutiny of Peter Clarke, who conducted the original Met investigation into phone hacking, would be based on whether he set too narrow parameters for the investigation or whether they were reasonable given the Met's ongoing concern with terrorism, but this issue did not form part of his referral to the IPCC.

Andy Hayman was found by the IPCC to not be responsible for the original investigation, despite being in overall command. Hayman was criticised for his "social contacts with News International and subsequent employment by the Times", and the IPCC said there are "serious issues that need to be scrutinised about the extent of contact between senior police officers and the media".

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