Scotland Yard Phone Hacking Scandal Cover-up Man and Top Cop, John Yates comes up short on Answers

Former senior Scotland Yard official struggles to explain ties to phone hacking suspects
By Associated Press, 1 March, 2012 – Washington Post

LONDON — One of Scotland Yard’s former top-ranking officers struggled Thursday to explain his close ties to people who later became suspects in the British phone-hacking saga, denying any suggestion that he refused to reinvestigate the scandal to protect his drinking buddies.

But former Assistant Commissioner John Yates had trouble explaining the nature of his convivial relationship with senior News of the World journalists Neil Wallis and Lucy Panton — both of whom have since been arrested.

Speaking via video link, Yates told a judge-led inquiry into the scandal that he was close to Wallis, saying the two traveled to soccer games together and regularly met for dinner or drinks at fancy restaurants. Still, he said that did not affect his judgment.

“I absolutely know — and guarantee — that none of that played any part in my decision-making,” he said. “My conscience is absolutely clear on that.”

Yates played a key role in the widening phone-hacking scandal when he knocked down a 2009 story published in the Guardian newspaper that suggested illegal behavior at the News of the World tabloid was more widespread than previously acknowledged. Yates took only six hours to veto any further investigation, saying there was no evidence to back the Guardian’s claim. …more