Senior Met officer to face MPs over phone hacking

Assistant commissioner John Yates to be questioned by Commons committee amid allegations that he misled parliament

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• James Robinson and Nick Davies
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 March 2011 20.35 GMT
• Article history

Assistant commissioner John Yates told MPs last year that the Met could only prove that hacking took place in a small number of cases. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

One of Scotland Yard's most senior police officers has offered to face new questions from MPs over allegations that he misled parliament over the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World.

The culture, media and sport committee will question John Yates, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, following comments he made to MPs last year that the Met could only prove that hacking took place in a small number of cases.

Yates, who may appear before the committee as early as Thursday, told the home affairs select committee in September the Met would only be able to act in about 10-12 cases because the Crown Prosecution Service had adopted a narrow interpretation of the legislation which outlaws it.

He said the CPS had advised that convictions could only be secured if it were proved that voicemail messages had been intercepted by a third party before they had been listened to by their intended recipient.

The former Labour minister Chris Bryant, who believes his own phone was hacked, said in the Commons last week that Yates had misled parliament by claiming the Met's hands were tied because of the advice from the CPS.

Bryant's comments, which were covered by parliamentary privilege, prompted a row with Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, who said in a letter published by the Guardian on Monday that it was "regrettable" that Yates had taken comments he made "out of context" in an attempt to justify his evidence.

Yates wrote to the Guardian defending his position and quoting a sentence from evidence submitted by the DPP's office to one of the select committees.

Starmer made it clear he has since advised the police that charges could be bought under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act regardless of whether voicemail had been heard or not by the intended recipient.

He said the narrow interpretation of the law cited by Yates had played no part in the charging or prosecution of Glenn Mulcaire or Clive Goodman, the private detective and News of the World journalist who were were jailed in January 2007 for hacking voicemail.

Yates has written to both committees saying he wants to clarify his evidence.