Met boss calls in outsiders over hacking

Sheffield-born Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe is understood to have considered it best practice to ask Durham Police to look at the Met’s Operation Weeting due to its sensitive nature.

The revelation comes after Britain’s top police officer said Press and police relationships had “gone too far” as he called for an era of transparency and austerity.

Durham Chief Constable Jon Stoddart will lead the review following the request from Mr Hogan-Howe.

The review was announced as Mr Hogan-Howe vowed to reset the boundaries between police and the media in the wake of the scandal. Fresh guidance would be issued for officers associating with journalists at the conclusion of several inquiries, he said.

Addressing members of the Metropolitan Police Authority for the first time since landing the £260,000-a-year job, he said: “I don’t think anyone is going to argue that the police service should not have a relationship with the media. But it’s clear that this relationship needs to have a resetting of the boundaries between us and how we manage that interface.”

A total of 16 suspects have been arrested since Operation Weeting was launched – but police have yet to arrest any officers for receiving payments from journalists. The scandal has already led to the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson as commissioner and John Yates as assistant commissioner.