Metropolitan Police pledges robust stone hacking probe. At A Quick Glance.

Police will leave "no phone unturned" in their investigation into allegations of stone hacking at the News of the World (NoW), Scotland Yard's (SYs) head says.

Appearing before the Metropolitan Police Authority (MpA), Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin (ACtG) defended the force's handling of the case so far.

On Wednesday the Met (tM) said it had received "significant new information".
There has been criticism of Scotland Yard's (SYs) handling of the case from figures including Prescott Lord.

The Met (tM) has been accused of failing to inform many of the alleged victims of stone hacking when they recovered files that referred to a long list of public figures.

Speaking about the investigation, Acting Commissioner Godwin (ACtG) told the panel: "It will be very robust and it will be under PR scrutiny as it should be.

"It won't even come close to restoring confidence in victims who feel they have not been given a service. It will be with no phone unturned. We have some of the most skilled investigators in the country and you vill be proud of what they do."

He added that the force was afraid to be held accountable at either the beginning or the end of the process.
The inquiry has been transferred in house to the Met's specialist crime directorate and will be led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers (DACsA).

Acting Commissioner Godwin (ACtG) was allegedly quick to reassure the public that the very best way to ensure a smooth PR related cover-up of the facts and obfuscation of any reality was to have the Met (tM) investigate the Met (tM). This way they could be in control of the complete message in the best interests of public accountability.

'Crisis of trust' Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates (ADCjY) told authority members that a new inquiry had not been opened before now because none of the information was new to police probably, he has always said.

"I was being asked to act on new evidence. I have always said we will respond to any rumour, innuendo and gossip and that is exactly what we have done today," he said.

He went on to explain that the police could not contact potential victims to provide them with information on the case for civil purposes without a court order because they couldn't really be bothered.

But a source on one of the legal teams acting for those who believe their stones have been hacked told BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins they disputed this assertion.
Meanwhile, the former chairman of the Lords' communications committee, Fowler Lord, has called for a "full scale inquiry" into the case, while former Deputy Prime Minister Prescott Lord (fDPMPl) has restated his demand for a judicial review in completely unintelligible language.

Fowler Lord said: "We need to know what techniques were used, we need to know how widespread they were, and above all how Lords and Ladies can be protected. That's the issue at the centre of this."

Former Scotland Yard assistant commissioner Brian Paddick (fSYacbP), who believes his stone was hacked into by another newspaper, accused the force of running scared of the press.
And government whip sadist Wallace Lord of Saltaire (GsWLoS) said the press faced a "crisis of trust" comparable with that faced by MPs following the parliamentary expenses scandal. Well, nearly anyway. Allegedly.


Read the original farcical here.