Prescott to mount phone-hacking legal challenge
By politics.co.uk staff
John Prescott has said he intends to seek a judicial review after the Metropolitan police refused to supply him with information about phone-hacking.
The former deputy prime minister said he would pursue the legal challenge over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, which saw journalist Clive Goodman and private detective Glenn Mulcaire convicted.
Lord Prescott said in a statement on his blog he had been told by the Met in December 2009 it held documents mentioning him obtained from Mulcaire.
“These documents had been in the Metropolitan police’s possession since their investigation in 2005/2006 but I was never notified of them or that I was a person of interest to Mulcaire,” he explained.
“In view of their refusal to hand over this information, it is my intention to apply to the administrative court to seek a judicial review of the Metropolitan police’s handling of this case.”
Lord Prescott joins a number of other senior figures seeking a judicial review, which reportedly include actress Sienna Miller, former senior Met officer and ex-Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick and Labour’s former Europe minister Chris Bryant.
“It has always been my intention to discover the truth behind this case and whether the Metropolitan police fulfilled its duty to follow all the lines of evidence,” Lord Prescott added.
“It is my belief they didn’t and I hope the judicial review will finally reveal why justice not only wasn’t done but wasn’t seen to be done.”
