Prescott accused of rantingover phone-hacking claims

Lord Prescott was accused of "ranting" and wasting public money yesterday after he said he would seek a judicial review into the News of the World phone-hacking row.

The Scotland Yard officer who oversaw the investigation launched a scathing attack on the ex-deputy prime minister.

The peer announced yesterday that he would ask the courts to examine the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the case after they refused to provide all the information relating to him.

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Shadow foreign office minister Chris Bryant, ex-Met deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick and journalist Brendan Montague have also started proceedings.

Former Met assistant commissioner Andy Hayman, who oversaw the original investigation and went on to work for News International, parent company of the News of the World, said: “We have to get real over this.

“This is just another episode of Lord Prescott’s rants. My understanding is, there is absolutely no evidence from that initial investigation of his phone being hacked, so why he thinks he is anything special, I do not know.

“I don’t believe that a judicial review will reveal anything more than what has already been reviewed by my successor, also by the Crown Prosecution Service and by other bodies. It could actually end up being a waste of public money and only ever putting Lord Prescott on a bigger platform.”

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Lord Prescott said: “I find it quite remarkable that the man responsible for the original investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World should accuse me of ‘ranting’. The basis of my call for a judicial review into his investigation was that I and others targeted by Glenn Mulcaire and the News of the World were never notified by Mr Hayman.

“This was in spite of two invoices naming me being found in a police search of Mulcaire’s property along with a piece of paper with my name on it.

“This search took place while I was deputy prime minister and Hayman was assistant commissioner in August 2006. I understand he then left the police to go and work for the News of the World’s parent company, News International.

“It took four years after that search before The Guardian, not the police, informed me that I was a person of interest to Mulcaire and a further five months before the police confirmed the existence of the invoices and the paper.

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“This is not ranting. This is a desire to uncover why the Metropolitan Police failed to notify thousands of people targeted by Mulcaire and the News of the World, why they failed to follow the evidence and why they fundamentally failed to do their job.”