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Phone hacking: Sir Paul Stephenson defends NoW lunches | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
The Metropolitan Police commissioner has defended having dinner with a News of the World executive during the force's first phone-hacking inquiry. | |
Sir Paul Stephenson met the paper's executive editor Neil Wallis on 1 September 2006. | |
Sir Paul told the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) he had "no involvement" with the force's inquiry at the time. | |
MPA member Caroline Pidgeon said it was "extraordinary" Sir Paul was "wined and dined" when he had 69 press officers. | |
She said any of them could have met with Mr Wallis, who was arrested on Thursday as part of the new police investigation into the alleged wrongdoing at the newspaper. | |
'Satisfied with integrity' | |
Appearing before an emergency MPA session, Sir Paul was asked about 24 meetings - three-quarters of which were lunches or meals - he had had with representatives from the News of the World. | |
Sir Paul said it was important to have "appropriate relationships" with the media in order to promote the work of the Met. | |
But he insisted: "I do not believe on any occasion I have acted inappropriately. | |
"I am very satisfied with my own integrity but I do accept, in matters such as this we need to acknowledge... that perceptions can be different from the reality." | |
Ms Pidgeon said it had taken "months and months" of Freedom of Information requests to discover the number of meetings between officers and reporters. | |
"It seems to me extraordinary and questionable whether it's appropriate for senior officers to have these dinners." | |
She added: "You have to be whiter than white, and it does not look good that you've had dinners or lunches with News International when an investigation's under way." | |
The Met originally began an inquiry into phone hacking in 2005 after the News of the World published stories about Prince William's health. | |
Two people - the newspaper's royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire - were jailed as a result of the inquiry. | |
The force oversaw a review in 2009 following allegations that reporters paid private investigators to hack into thousands of phones. | |
It decided not to press any charges - but a fresh probe has now begun after claims that hacking was widespread. |