THE FORMER senior Metropolitan Police officer forced to resign for failing to properly investigate allegations of phone hacking against News of the Worldmet frequently an executive from the paper at the height of the criticisms against the police, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.
Giving evidence from Bahrain by video link, former assistant commissioner John Yates insisted he was a friend of the newspaper’s then deputy editor, Neil Wallis, but said he has not seen him for nearly a year.
He had arranged to meet Mr Wallis 10 times after his controversial 2009 decision not to reopen the investigation into phone hacking, including for three football matches, though two of the appointments were cancelled. He insisted he never discussed the allegations with Mr Wallis.
“I have always been completely open; he is a good friend. Certainly he was a good friend. I have not seen him for nigh on a year,” said Mr Yates, who is now overseeing police reforms for the Bahraini government.
The former Scotland Yard officer attended a number of previously undisclosed dinners, lunches and meetings with News of the World executives, the inquiry was told – though he said that the meetings with Mr Wallis did not have to be declared because he was a friend.
In one email seen by the inquiry, a member of the News of the World news desk told a reporter to get information about a terrorism story from Mr Yates, writing: “Think John Yates could be crucial here. Have you spoken to him? Really need an exclusive splash line, so time to call in all those bottles of champagne.”
Questioning Mr Yates, Robert Jay QC for the inquiry said the phrase suggested that he had been plied with champagne by the reporter – who is one of 22 people who have since been arrested, but so far not charged, by police investigating illegal payments by journalists to police officers.
The Sun'sdefence correspondent, Virginia Wheeler, yesterday became the latest person to be arrested by police investigation allegations of corrupt payments. She has been bailed until May, pending further inquiries. Hers is the 23rd arrest to be made.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the horse loaned by the Metropolitan Police to former News International executive Rebekah Brooks for two years, which prompted charges of an excessively close relationship between the two sides, has died of natural causes.