Operation Caryatid
Operation Caryatid was launched by the Metropolitan Police on 21 December 2005, in response to concerns from St James's Palace about the source of newspaper stories on Princes William and Harry.[1]
The operation, led by Detective Superintendent Philip Williams, was carried out by the Counter-Terrorist Branch (SO13).[2]
Although the investigation revealed a huge phone hacking operation, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service agreed in July 2006 to restrict its scope to focus on the hacking of royal aides by Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman.[3]
Police arrested Goodman and Mulcaire on 8 August 2006, and executed a warrant on Goodman's desk at the News of the World, where they met with a hostile reception.[4]
After raiding Mulcaire's home, police had evidence that up to 418 victims had been targeted including Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.[5] However, the CPS was given a figure of around 180 victims on 21 August.[6]
On 15 September, News of the World lawyer Tom Crone sent an email to editor Andy Coulson that gave details of a briefing on the operation given by police to Sun editor Rebekah Wade, apparently on the grounds that Wade had herself been hacked.[7]
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke formally limited the operation to Goodman and Mulcaire at the end of September 2006.[8]
In January 2007, Goodman was jailed for four months and Mulcaire for six months.[9]
Following a Guardian story on phone hacking on 8 July 2009, the CPS re-examined the evidence from the operation. However, a review by John Yates of the Metropolitan Police lasted only a few hours, before concluding that no further investigation was required.[10]
In a memorandum to the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2010, lawyer Mark Lewis suggested:
- At the relevant time, Mr Hayman had reason to fear that he was a target of Glenn Mulcaire and the News of the World. It became public knowledge that throughout the period of the investigation into voicemail hacking, Mr Hayman was involved in a controversial relationship with a woman who worked for the Independent Police Complaints Commission and was claiming expenses which were subsequently regarded as unusually high.
- The same, of course, is also true of John Yates who, we now know, at the time when he responded to the Guardian stories about Gordon Taylor's settlement with News Group was involved in a controversial relationship with a woman who worked for the Met press bureau.[11]
External resources
- Operation Caryatid - Briefing for ACSO John Yates, 12 July 2009, National Archives.
Notes
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.33.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.35.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.39.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.40.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.41.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.42.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, pp.42-43.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.44.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, p.48.
- ↑ Tom Watson & Martin Hickman, Dial M for Murdoch, News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, Penguin Books, 2012, pp.77-78.
- ↑ Memoranda, Home Affairs Select Committee, parliament.uk, December 2010.
