Hacking: Top police chiefs fall
Source: Agencies |
July 19, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Britain's phone hacking and police bribery scandal forced two of London's top police officers to resign in less than 24 hours and prompted Prime Minister David Cameron to call for an emergency session of parliament.
Scotland Yard chief Paul Stephenson stepped down on Sunday night, followed yesterday by Assistant Commissioner John Yates.
It was Yates who decided two years ago not to reopen inquiries into phone hacking and police bribery by tabloid journalists, saying he did not believe there was any new evidence. Detectives reopened the investigation earlier this year and now say they have the names of 3,700 potential victims.
British Home Secretary Theresa May announced yesterday that the Inspectorate of Constabulary would look at links between the police and the press in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
Parliament was to break for the summer today after politicians grilled Rupert Murdoch, his son James and Murdoch's former British chief executive Rebekah Brooks in a highly anticipated public airing about the scandal. Cameron, however, wants politicians to reconvene tomorrow "so I can make a further statement."
Cameron was speaking in Pretoria, South Africa, on the first day of a two-day visit to Africa. He had planned a longer trip but cut it short as his government faces a growing number of questions about its cozy relationship with the Murdoch empire during a scandal that has taken down top police and media figures with breathtaking speed.
Opposition leader Ed Miliband said Cameron needed to answer "a whole series of questions" about his relationships with Brooks, James Murdoch and Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor Cameron hired as his communications chief.
Brooks was detained on Sunday and questioned for nine hours before being released on bail. She was chief executive of News International, Murdoch's British newspaper arm, whose News of the World stands accused of hacking into the phones of celebrities, politicians and other journalists. But it was the revelation that journalists accessed the phone of slain teenager Milly Dowler in search of scoops while police were looking for the missing 13-year-old that fueled wide outrage in Britain.
Stephenson resigned over his ties to Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive editor who has been arrested in the scandal.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said Yates had questions to answer about his own links with Wallis, and said Yates resigned after being told he would be suspended pending an ethics investigation.
Brooks' arrest was a devastating blow for Murdoch, the once all-powerful figure courted by British politicians of all stripes. Now he is struggling to tame the scandal, which has already destroyed the News of the World, cost the jobs of Brooks and Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton and sunk his dream of taking full control of satellite broadcaster, BSkyB.
Even more senior figures could face arrest, including James Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB and chief executive of his father's European and Asian operations.
James Murdoch did not directly oversee the News of the World, but approved payments to some of the most prominent hacking victims, including 700,000 pounds (US$1.1 million) to Professional Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor.
Scotland Yard chief Paul Stephenson stepped down on Sunday night, followed yesterday by Assistant Commissioner John Yates.
It was Yates who decided two years ago not to reopen inquiries into phone hacking and police bribery by tabloid journalists, saying he did not believe there was any new evidence. Detectives reopened the investigation earlier this year and now say they have the names of 3,700 potential victims.
British Home Secretary Theresa May announced yesterday that the Inspectorate of Constabulary would look at links between the police and the press in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
Parliament was to break for the summer today after politicians grilled Rupert Murdoch, his son James and Murdoch's former British chief executive Rebekah Brooks in a highly anticipated public airing about the scandal. Cameron, however, wants politicians to reconvene tomorrow "so I can make a further statement."
Cameron was speaking in Pretoria, South Africa, on the first day of a two-day visit to Africa. He had planned a longer trip but cut it short as his government faces a growing number of questions about its cozy relationship with the Murdoch empire during a scandal that has taken down top police and media figures with breathtaking speed.
Opposition leader Ed Miliband said Cameron needed to answer "a whole series of questions" about his relationships with Brooks, James Murdoch and Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor Cameron hired as his communications chief.
Brooks was detained on Sunday and questioned for nine hours before being released on bail. She was chief executive of News International, Murdoch's British newspaper arm, whose News of the World stands accused of hacking into the phones of celebrities, politicians and other journalists. But it was the revelation that journalists accessed the phone of slain teenager Milly Dowler in search of scoops while police were looking for the missing 13-year-old that fueled wide outrage in Britain.
Stephenson resigned over his ties to Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive editor who has been arrested in the scandal.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said Yates had questions to answer about his own links with Wallis, and said Yates resigned after being told he would be suspended pending an ethics investigation.
Brooks' arrest was a devastating blow for Murdoch, the once all-powerful figure courted by British politicians of all stripes. Now he is struggling to tame the scandal, which has already destroyed the News of the World, cost the jobs of Brooks and Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton and sunk his dream of taking full control of satellite broadcaster, BSkyB.
Even more senior figures could face arrest, including James Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB and chief executive of his father's European and Asian operations.
James Murdoch did not directly oversee the News of the World, but approved payments to some of the most prominent hacking victims, including 700,000 pounds (US$1.1 million) to Professional Footballers' Association chief Gordon Taylor.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
