17/09/2010

Hack Probe To Be Challenged

Former Deputy PM Lord Prescott is to request a judicial review of the police investigation into claims the News of the World were involved in phone hacking.

Lord Prescott said the Metropolitan Police did not provide him with the related material which was uncovered during the 2006 inquiry.

News of the World Reporter Clive Goodman and Private Detective Glenn Mulcaire were both convicted of conspiracy to access phone messages.

Lord Prescott claims that papers featuring his name were located in the office of a private detective at the centre of the inquiry.

However John Yates, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, claimed that Lord Prescott's voicemail PIN number was not discovered during the investigation.

Lord Prescott's representative said the application for the review focused on the police's failure to hand over a document featuring his name upon request as opposed to his phone being hacked.

The requested review will also look into police failure to "carry out an effective investigation into the unlawful activities of Goodman, Mulcaire and others."

(BMcN/KMcA)


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