Publisher's Synopsis
The Commons Home Affairs Committee "deplores" News International's attempt to "deliberately thwart" the original investigation into phone hacking in 2005-06 but also states that the police set aside a huge amount of material that could have identified other perpetrators and victims. The committee agrees with John Yates's own assessment that his 2009 review of this investigation was "very poor", that he did not ask the right questions and that he was guilty of a "serious misjudgement". The committee criticises Andy Hayman's cavalier attitude towards his contacts with those in News International who were under investigation which, even if entirely above board, risked seriously undermining confidence in the impartiality of the police, and accuses him of deliberate prevarication in order to mislead the committee. It urges the swift and thorough investigation of allegations that payments were made to police officers by the media, which will
