Met Chief Defends Hiring Of NOTW Journalist

The outgoing chief of the Metropolitan Police has refused to apologise for hiring a News Of The World journalist - who has since been arrested over phone hacking - as an adviser.

Sir Paul Stephenson - who announced his resignation on Sunday - was giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee.

At the weekend Sir Paul said he was resigning with his integrity intact but admitted his links to the newspaper's former deputy editor Neil Wallis could hamper Scotland Yard's investigation into phone hacking, as well as preparations for the Olympics.

He told the committee "distracting" stories about his links to the affair left him with no choice but to resign, adding: "It was my decision and my decision only."

He said he was saddened to have to leave but these were "extraordinary times".

He added he had "no reason to doubt Mr Wallis' integrity" when he was employed as a consultant.

"Why did I not tell the Prime Minister before Wallis' name was connected with phone hacking? I would have no reason to," Sir Paul said.

"I had no reason to connect Wallis with phone hacking, I had no reason to doubt his impropriety, nothing had come to my attention, I had no knowledge of the previous inquiry and I had no reason to inquire of the previous inquiry."

Sir Paul told the committee he only found out about Mr Wallis becoming a suspect "several weeks ago" and that he regretted the force had taken him on in 2009.

But he revealed that 10 members of staff in the Directorate for Public Affairs (DPA) have worked for the NOTW in the past.

Sir Paul said that former News International employees and interns accounted for almost a quarter of the DPA's staff of 45.

When questioned again about his resignation statement, Sir Paul denied he had taken a "swipe" at the Prime Minister when he referred to his own connection to Mr Wallis and Mr Cameron's employment of former editor Andy Coulson.

He said: "I cannot control the way the media spin things or interpret things.

"I'm just saying here and now that I made no personal attack on the Prime Minister."

Referring to the original hacking investigation in 2006, the outgoing Commissioner said he had "no reason to expect that it had been unsuccessful".

He said it had not been a "priority" for him in 2009 and he had no reason to doubt assurances made by the now-outgoing Assistant Commissioner John Yates.

Sir Paul also defended his acceptance of hospitality at the Champneys health spa while recovering from surgery.

He told MPs he was not aware Mr Wallis had a business involvement with the spa but said the connection was "unlucky".

Scotland Yard's director of public affairs Dick Fedorcio, who was involved in the decision to employ Mr Wallis, gave evidence after Sir Paul.

It was announced earlier that he is being referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over his links to Mr Wallis.

Mr Fedorcio said he had known the journalist for a long time but that he was not a "personal friend".

He told MPs Mr Wallis had assured Mr Yates his appointment would not cause any embarrassment.

But Mr Fedorcio said he would "certainly not" reappoint him knowing what he knows now.

He said he was "dismayed" at suggestions he favoured the News Of The World to place stories in and that he worked with "all sorts of papers and all sorts of journalists".

Mr Yates, who resigned on Monday after coming under fire over his decision in 2009 not to reopen the 2006 police hacking inquiry, was the final person from Scotland Yard to speak to the committee.

He told them he resigned because the hacking affair had become a "huge distraction" from his role as head of counter-terrorism.

He explained that he did not have a "scintilla of concern" over employing Mr Wallis, who he said was a friend he saw two or three times a year.

"I must have been round there once to pick him up for a football match. I would see him maybe two or three times a year," he said.

"Do not get the impression that we are bosom buddies, living in each other's houses."

He also denied he had "inappropriately" secured a job for Mr Wallis' daughter and said he had merely been a "postbox" who passed on her CV to the human resources department.

The IPCC is now investigating this allegation.

In 2009 Mr Yates carried out a one-day review that concluded there was no cause to reopen the original 2006 hacking investigation.

The review did not go beyond what was in the newspaper article, he said, asking: "Frankly, why would we have (looked beyond this) then on what we knew then?

"You know now something different and I do, and, God, I wish I had done something different."

He said David Cameron's chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, had "properly and understandably" rejected an offer from him to explain the investigation's content.

Number 10 said Mr Llewellyn's response to the offer was "entirely appropriate".

Mr Cameron's spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate for police to discuss operational matters with the PM or any other minister."

Mr Yates also explained to MPs why he had resigned, saying the phone-hacking scandal had become a "huge distraction for me in my current role".

Mr Yates gave evidence to MPs last week but was recalled to "clarify" his testimony when he expressed regret at his 2009 decision that there was no need to reopen the investigation.

Keith Vaz, committee chairman, said his evidence had been "unconvincing" and that there were more questions to be asked.

Sir Paul and Mr Yates join a growing list of casualties of the controversy, including former NOTW editor Andy Coulson, News Corp veteran Les Hinton, former NOTW editor Rebekah Brooks and the 168-year-old newspaper itself.

Sir Paul and NMr Yates will remain in their jobs until their temporary replacements take over.