'UK police had defensive mindset over phone hacking'

Paul Stephenson resigned in July last year at the height of the row over the hacking at the News of the World newspaper, amid reports of his close ties with its publishers, Rupert Murdochs News International.Stephenson told Britains inquiry into press ethics that the London police force adopted a defensive stance rather than a challenging stance over claims that hacking went beyond one rogue reporter at the News of the World.But the former police chief denied this was because of links between senior police officers and News International.You can see why we got to where we did, but its regrettable, Stephenson said, adding that the fear of taking on a large enterprise, I do not think comes into it.He was giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry, which was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in the wake of the hacking scandal to examine the practices of the British media, including the ties between the police and journalists.Stephenson quit as the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, commonly known as Scotland Yard, in July amid a row over his links to a former News of the World executive, Neil Wallis, although he has denied any wrongdoing.A 2006 police investigation into phone-hacking led to the jailing of a News of the World journalist and a private detective, but the tabloid insisted it was a one-off and the police did not take it any further.Allegations emerged in 2009 that the practice was widespread, but police only reopened their investigation in January 2011. Since then, dozens of people have been arrested and News International has compensated numerous victims.Stephenson said the scandal, which caused the News of the Worlds closure last July, was not a priority for me while he was commissioner from January 2009 to July 2011, given other challenges such as counter-terrorism.He tasked senior police officer John Yates to look into the allegations of widespread hacking in 2009 and accepted his view that no action was required -- a view that has since been strongly criticised.Yates also resigned.--AFP