Andy Hayman

Andy Hayman is the former head of Specialist Operations at the Metropolitan Police.

In November 1998, Mr Hayman entered the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) when he was appointed to the rank of commander in the Met with responsibility for drugs, crime and complaints investigations.

Between then and December 2002 he was responsible for a range of serious crime issues, as well as corruption in the Met, while representing Acpo on drugs issues.

He left the Met to become Chief Constable of Norfolk, where he stayed until he returned to Scotland Yard to take up the post as Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) in February 2005.

The role encompasses responsibility for terrorist investigations, the protection of royalty, VIPs and diplomats and aviation security.

Mr Hayman, who is marred with two daughters, has been a leading voice on terror in Acpo and government circles.

With Mr Clarke, he has been a major influence in the creation of a nationwide anti-terrorist investigation structure - the need for which was illustrated by the fact that the July 7 London bombers came from Leeds.

Operation Helios

Hayman led Operation Helios, the investigation into Iranian-born Metropolitan Police superintendent Ali Dizaei.

The investigation into Ali Dizaei, then a Metropolitan police superintendent, ended with his acquittal at the Old Bailey on corruption charges after a four-year pursuit by his own force. Mr Dizaei's phones were tapped and he was followed by his fellow officers. When he was suspended in January 2001, he was legal adviser to the National Black Police Association (NBPA) and helped officers sue forces for discrimination. Yesterday's apology came after the discovery that the Met had listened in to confidential calls about black and Asian officers suing the force for racism.

In a negotiated settlement between the Met and the NBPA, the police admitted making mistakes and to bugging privileged legal calls and transcribing them.

De Menezes case

Hayman was criticised by an official investigation of the police response to the death of Jean Charles De Menezes.

The investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which lasted two years and cost £300,000, found one person culpable over the mishandling of emerging information about Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, who was shot seven times in the head at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July 2005.

It accused Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, the head of counter-terrorism operations, of "misleading the public" by trying to hide the fact that the dead man was not a suspect of the 21 July suicide bombing plot. His actions, says the report, "cause us serious concerns".

The report reveals that Mr Hayman had briefed crime reporters on the day of the shooting that the dead man was not one of the 21 July suspects. However, that information was "deliberately withheld" from a press release he helped to write later on. The report states: "Assistant Commissioner Hayman chose to mislead the public by his actions."

Bugging of Sadiq Khan MP

Hayman was the most senior officer involved in authorising the bugging of Sadiq Khan MP.

On 21 May 2005 between 9.47 and 10.49 am and on 24 June 2006 between 9.16 and 10.37 am Mr Khan visited Babar Ahmad. The prison records of the visits show him as a friend. Both visits were monitored by surveillance. In relation to 21 May, surveillance was applied for by a Detective Constable on 6th May 2005, (after Babar Ahmad had returned to Woodhill from Belmarsh), recommended to ACPO rank by Detective Superintendent Fuller, agreed to by Deputy Governor Davis and approved by Assistant Commissioner Hayman on 11 May 2005. The authorisation was to monitor and record non-legal visits to Babar Ahmad by 18 named people including Sadiq Khan. Prison policy required that prisoners, not visitors, be targeted Report of for surveillance. That authorisation, subject to monthly review and three monthly renewal, effectively remained in force until December 2006.

It was reviewed on 7 June by Mr Fuller and on 14 June 2005 by Mr Hayman. The record of that review indicates that information had been gained that a recently elected Member of Parliament had offered Babar Ahmad help to fight extradition but there is no indication that the Member of Parliament in question was Mr Khan. In relation to 24 June 2006, the authorisation was reviewed on 7 June 2006 by another Detective Constable, recommended to ACPO rank by Detective Superintendent McKinney, agreed to by Deputy Governor Davis and continued by Mr Hayman on 9 June 2006. The product of the monitoring of both visits was summarised by a TVP officer in written reports for the Security Service (who took no part in the authorisation process or the monitoring). Those reports were filed and the Service took no action on them. .