:00:04. > :00:13.Time for the round up of the Leveson Inquiry. These witnesses
:00:13. > :00:20.included several Met Police. They gossiped about stories within
:00:20. > :00:30.the Met. The relationship with the media is dominating my life.
:00:30. > :00:36.
:00:36. > :00:41.It can be tough at the top of the Met Police. 0 their 50,000 staff
:00:41. > :00:49.protecting over 7 million citizens and always knowing if things go
:00:49. > :00:59.wrong, it can end like this. I have informed the palace and a secretary
:00:59. > :01:03.and the mayor for my intention to resign. Four former commissioners
:01:03. > :01:13.told the inquiry had debt -- how they dealt was deep scrutiny of the
:01:13. > :01:14.
:01:14. > :01:20.press, just waiting for them to slip up. Neil Wallace was arrested
:01:20. > :01:27.and bailed over phone hacking last year. Previously he was hired by
:01:28. > :01:32.the next to advise them on public relations. -- Met Police. The
:01:32. > :01:37.former policeman arrived in suit and tie to tell the inquiry how
:01:37. > :01:43.people in his top team did damage by talking to the papers. I am
:01:44. > :01:51.talking about a very small number on the management board. On
:01:51. > :01:57.occasion at a cost it all lit stories from within the Met Police.
:01:57. > :02:00.It was deeply unhelpful and added to a continuing dialogue of
:02:00. > :02:06.disharmony and does functionality within the senior levels.
:02:06. > :02:08.inquiry heard how the most senior officer in the Met Police develops
:02:08. > :02:18.a professional acquaintance with Neil Wallace over drinks and
:02:18. > :02:25.
:02:25. > :02:30.dinners. This access was not unique. Other editors have relationships
:02:30. > :02:34.with him as well. I find it difficult how the commissioner
:02:34. > :02:42.could do his job properly without engaging heavily with the media at
:02:42. > :02:50.the right level. If the reports continued to be unbalanced, which
:02:50. > :02:55.it often is, I have the duty to try and continue to affect that balance
:02:55. > :03:03.to be more fair and accurate. Recovering after hospital treatment,
:03:03. > :03:10.he received a free stay at. Later he learnt that that Neil Wallis did
:03:10. > :03:14.PR work for this company as well. was on significant medication and
:03:14. > :03:18.was still in a room chair. It represented my best chance at
:03:18. > :03:23.getting back to work as early as possible. That was the reason I did
:03:23. > :03:28.it. Looking back at how they dealt with phone hacking, it is suggested
:03:28. > :03:34.that the attitude and his actions which were to account for its Beria
:03:34. > :03:42.in rethinking its conclusion of the original phone hacking inquiry.
:03:42. > :03:49.did not challenge the reasons for those decisions in 2007. I think he
:03:49. > :03:58.acted in good faith. I am convinced about that. When he challenged the
:03:58. > :04:03.reasons, we did not know it was limited. It felt like a success for
:04:04. > :04:10.investigation. The leader of that original investigation did not
:04:10. > :04:20.delegate it properly. The fact that they did not feel like a priority
:04:20. > :04:25.
:04:25. > :04:33.was a relevant factor. We got ourselves almost thought on in
:04:33. > :04:37.expensive strategy. In the wake of the trauma that followed that
:04:38. > :04:44.defensive strategy, they commissioned a report on their
:04:44. > :04:50.relations with the press. There were doubts even in the police
:04:50. > :04:58.service about the perks available to those at the top. Many of the
:04:58. > :05:04.police offices I interviewed were highly shop by the amount of
:05:04. > :05:14.hospitality that the senior people appeared to be receiving. Many of
:05:14. > :05:15.
:05:15. > :05:21.the lower ranks people felt people were filling their boots. That was
:05:21. > :05:25.a general feeling. She even heard allegations that the reputations of
:05:25. > :05:29.some of those senior offices were being protected in return to
:05:29. > :05:39.favours for reporters. I was taught a variety of different occasions in
:05:39. > :05:48.which information about senior officers private lives were kept
:05:48. > :05:52.out of the media and by the person in the media who had that
:05:52. > :05:59.information in exchange for getting an exclusive story. Sometimes she
:05:59. > :06:06.heard the trade was even more straight forward. Some of it was
:06:06. > :06:11.about people allegedly ringing up in excitement to the newspapers to
:06:11. > :06:16.say a certain celebrity has come into my police station. And when
:06:16. > :06:23.that poor celebrity gone outside, there were many cameras. The media
:06:23. > :06:30.had delivered the cameras. People also said they thought in some
:06:30. > :06:39.instances, people were paid for information about celebrities.
:06:39. > :06:49.former Chief Constable and author of A report admitted a much harsher
:06:49. > :06:52.
:06:52. > :07:02.view. You said you do not accept hospitality from the media.
:07:02. > :07:04.
:07:04. > :07:14.makes me sound extremely dull. That was my case in my time. There was
:07:14. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:31.never an occasion to do more than that. There was never a bottle of
:07:31. > :07:32.
:07:33. > :07:42.fine champagne. That was about as much the Leveson Inquiry allowed
:07:43. > :07:46.
:07:46. > :07:52.today. There has been a communications revolution around
:07:52. > :08:02.the media and the public. The police had been struggling to keep
:08:02. > :08:09.
:08:09. > :08:12.in front of that or in pace with it. Can you give us an example? People
:08:13. > :08:18.were taking photographs of themselves miners appropriate
:08:18. > :08:28.clothing. And it appeared on Facebook. A commissioner who spent
:08:28. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:37.seven years on the job found the papers were vital. I was on duty in
:08:37. > :08:44.every waking minute. That relationship with the media would
:08:44. > :08:54.be the single thing that is dominating my life. I had done
:08:54. > :08:59.
:08:59. > :09:04.during my time. There would be demand to be saying things, to be
:09:04. > :09:11.reassuring to the public. preferred to brief the press on
:09:11. > :09:18.police premises. Most of the time anyway. An editor from the
:09:18. > :09:28.Telegraph always moaned about be quality of food at Scotland Yard. I
:09:28. > :09:29.
:09:29. > :09:39.weakened a couple of times. I had one lunch at one of his clubs.
:09:39. > :09:42.
:09:42. > :09:48.fell short of criticising his excesses. -- successes. In a
:09:48. > :09:52.statement you say is: Hospitality can be the start of something that
:09:52. > :10:01.could lead to inappropriate and an ethical behaviour. Cannae tell us
:10:01. > :10:11.how he came to that conclusion? -- can you tell us. That is that the
:10:11. > :10:18.
:10:18. > :10:24.benefit of hindsight. It is just common sense in any walk of life.
:10:24. > :10:34.Hospitality can be appropriate, can be sensible, can be necessary, can
:10:34. > :10:36.
:10:36. > :10:44.be ethical. But the other side, it can lead to in appropriate
:10:44. > :10:49.Christmas and in some cases can lead to criminal behaviour. He said
:10:49. > :10:55.they were in severe crisis. No-one wanted to join the police because
:10:55. > :11:01.they did not believe it was an organisation where joining. Dealing
:11:01. > :11:05.with the media was part of his strategy. That is the nature of it.
:11:05. > :11:13.It is not the matter of bearing bad news but the matter of admitting to
:11:13. > :11:22.mistakes. At the same time they must allow the offices on the
:11:22. > :11:27.streets to tell their stories in a more positive way. It was what they
:11:27. > :11:37.-- the Met Police did or did not do about the Guardian's phone hacking
:11:37. > :11:39.
:11:39. > :11:47.investigation. The issues with the Guardian could have been picked up
:11:47. > :11:56.if I was Commissioner. I would have been quite ruthless about it.
:11:56. > :12:05.also wrote columns for the News of the World almost �7,000 a time. His
:12:05. > :12:11.pieces were edited by Neil Wallace. He then abandon his lucrative
:12:11. > :12:21.contract. I did not complete the contract because of the conviction
:12:21. > :12:30.that took place. I told them I did not want to continue. I never gave
:12:30. > :12:40.the Pacific reasons but I never saw them again. -- specific reasons.S
:12:40. > :12:44.
:12:44. > :12:50.years later Neil Wallis was hired. People are terrified about picking
:12:50. > :12:58.up the phone or speaking with the press. That is not healthy. That
:12:59. > :13:02.relationship is pretty strange. The Attorney General was looking into
:13:02. > :13:06.evidence of the oversight in charge of those investigations may
:13:06. > :13:16.prejudice any trial that followed. She alleged that there was a
:13:16. > :13:23.
:13:23. > :13:28.culture at the Sun which they On day 47 the man who was the Met
:13:28. > :13:36.Commissioner went hacking was first investigated. His relationship with
:13:36. > :13:42.News International came under scrutiny after a conversation
:13:42. > :13:48.revealed that his son did work experience at one of the newspapers.
:13:48. > :13:53.His son had done work experience at the summit. That is the kind of
:13:53. > :14:02.thing that would excite most 15- year-old, that would be a good idea.
:14:02. > :14:11.It was Rebekah Brooks who got to borrow a retired police force.
:14:11. > :14:15.would say that he was telephoned by Rebekah Brooks asking about this
:14:15. > :14:21.arrangement, that she had heard this arrangement existed, and that
:14:21. > :14:25.then he arranged for her to go down and see the inspector in charge of
:14:25. > :14:30.forces, and then have a discussion about it. This seems to have
:14:30. > :14:35.happened on the day that I had lunch with her. I understand that
:14:35. > :14:39.he will say that this was discussed at the lunch. I have absolutely no
:14:39. > :14:45.recollection of that. The horse incident was not a big deal, he
:14:45. > :14:50.said. The decision not to widen the phone hacking inquiry certainly was.
:14:50. > :14:54.The Inquiry heard Lord Blair his own telephone numbers appear in the
:14:54. > :15:04.notes of the convicted private detective. Did you ask the question,
:15:04. > :15:10.
:15:10. > :15:20.hang on,'s? I did not do it. consider that question of, who
:15:20. > :15:25.Wells, he spent six hours on that a job. -- who else? I don't and has
:15:25. > :15:31.then why John took that decision at the speed he did. Could you comment
:15:31. > :15:34.on one furthered decision that puzzles me. Having made the
:15:34. > :15:43.decision and given the press conference, the following days were
:15:43. > :15:47.then spent gathering documents which some may say could only have
:15:47. > :15:53.been required to justify the decision has been made because it
:15:53. > :15:57.was an open review, then why on earth make the announcement? Do I
:15:57. > :16:07.believe that John Yates took that decision in order to placate News
:16:07. > :16:14.International? No. I don't believe that. It is difficulty -- his
:16:14. > :16:19.difficulty. Bob quicks time it ended when he accidentally revealed
:16:19. > :16:24.to us photographers confidential notes about a police operation.
:16:24. > :16:27.That brought an end to a long career, one that saw him examining
:16:27. > :16:31.suspicions that journalists were corrupting police officers 12 years
:16:31. > :16:36.ago. We believe the journalists that were paying the bribes were
:16:36. > :16:46.not paying them from their own funds. The intelligence and
:16:46. > :16:48.
:16:48. > :16:50.evidence reveals payments of between �502,000. -- �500 and
:16:50. > :16:56.�2,000. We believe they were claiming that money from their
:16:56. > :17:03.employers. Quick wrote the report asking for action but no more was
:17:03. > :17:06.done. Police did investigate when money was lent it to the Labour
:17:06. > :17:11.Party. The Prime Minister was interviewed. There were no charges
:17:11. > :17:15.following a 16th month in which it -- investigation. The men charge of
:17:16. > :17:20.the investigation, John Yates, was suspected of leaking, something he
:17:20. > :17:25.has denied. Quick found no evidence there were leaks. But after the
:17:25. > :17:28.Cabinet Secretary complain, this happened. You ask to John Yates for
:17:28. > :17:35.his consent to allow that his private and work telephone records
:17:35. > :17:44.be examined. You thought he might welcome this. He indicated his
:17:44. > :17:50.refusal. When you press team he made the comment that he was too
:17:50. > :17:55.well connected. He said, no, I am very well connected. What
:17:55. > :18:03.inferences if any did you draw from that. I didn't place huge
:18:03. > :18:06.significance to it at the time. I thought it was a bit of theatre. He
:18:06. > :18:13.was clearly sensitive, as I think I would be, too intrusive process
:18:13. > :18:18.like that. That was not the last time quicks inquiries run into
:18:18. > :18:21.resistance. This Conservative MP was arrested and his office was
:18:21. > :18:30.surged in an investigation of run by a quick. The allegations were
:18:30. > :18:37.quickly established. It revealed that someone working close to the
:18:37. > :18:41.high and secretary in her private office seemed to be accessing
:18:41. > :18:49.letters to the Prime Minister as well as removing documents from a
:18:49. > :18:54.safe. -- the Home Secretary. That is essentially the CPSU had been
:18:55. > :19:00.consulted, advised that these are likely to be criminal matters.
:19:00. > :19:09.civil servant was accused of taking the material and of leaking it.
:19:09. > :19:14.Then the opposition's spokesman. Galli then detailed two meetings
:19:14. > :19:19.with Mr Green where he handed over Leeds material including material
:19:19. > :19:25.stolen from the Home Secretary's private office South -- say. One
:19:26. > :19:33.meeting was in a wine bar. The quotation there, that was in an e-
:19:33. > :19:41.mail. That was in an e-mail from Mr Green to Galli, arranging a meeting
:19:41. > :19:45.anywhere we will not see any of your colleagues. But arresting an
:19:45. > :19:49.MP and raiding his Westminster office raised constitutional issues
:19:49. > :19:58.and attracted the critical attention of among others London's
:19:58. > :20:01.men Boris Johnson. I had concerns that some early reports just before
:20:01. > :20:11.the weekend where the mayor expressed concerns about the arrest
:20:11. > :20:15.of Mr Green. I detected that had any impact. I detected a change in
:20:15. > :20:18.attitude towards the operation with one or two colleagues. There was
:20:18. > :20:24.anxiety and fear about what was going on around them. That
:20:24. > :20:29.concerned me. Review of the case decided the arrests of Damian Green
:20:29. > :20:35.was disproportionate. Low charges were ever brought. It was clear
:20:35. > :20:41.politicians' concerns put the police on edge. With Stephenson
:20:41. > :20:46.looked anxious and he had written out his resignation. He said he had
:20:46. > :20:51.done nothing wrong. Indeed. I was surprised and shocked at that
:20:51. > :20:55.remark. I could not see what the police were doing anything other
:20:55. > :20:59.than their duties to investigate what were very serious allegations
:20:59. > :21:03.from the government department. That was later disputed by the
:21:03. > :21:07.Met's lawyers. Quick got a bad press and did not feel he got the
:21:07. > :21:12.support he was due from his colleagues. Some senior officers
:21:12. > :21:22.were working on their own media relations. Do you recall that on at
:21:22. > :21:29.least a two ad agency were invited to a wine bar. New socks Deven some
:21:29. > :21:37.candidates socialising you need to be journalists. -- you saw
:21:37. > :21:43.Stephenson and E Yates. This was early with the Metropolitan Police.
:21:43. > :21:51.I sensed some unease about this only because it crossed my mind
:21:51. > :21:56.that these journalists have homes to go to their families. I found it
:21:56. > :22:01.surprising there was this level of social engagement in a local wine
:22:01. > :22:05.bars or pubs. There is now no shortage of detail about the
:22:05. > :22:08.relationships between those who were at the top of the Metropolitan
:22:08. > :22:14.Police and those who were at the top of News International. None of