Phone-hacking enquiry: Dick Fedorcio put on leave

Metropolitan police’s director of public affairs put on extended leave until police hacking enquiry is over Dick Fedorcio, the Met’s director of public affairs and internal communication, has been put on extended leave until Scotland Yard’s investigation into phone hacking is over. He has been in the post for eleven years, but he was criticised last month for hiring Neil Wallis, a former deputy editor at the News of the World, as a consultant. Wallis has been working in a PR capacity since leaving the paper in 2009. He was arrested as part of the Operation Weeting inquiry in July. Fedorcio gave Wallis a two-day a month contract to assist the Met’s press office in October 2009. Fedorcio told the Home Affairs select committee that he would not have hired Wallis had he known he was to be arrested. He also said he had not asked Wallis about phone-hacking at the paper before hiring him. The close ties between News International, which owned the title until it was shut down in July, and the Met, have prompted concerns about the intimacy of the relationship between the two organisations. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is currently investigating his dealings with Wallis. Scotland Yard sources have said the hacking investigation is likely to run into next year. Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Metropolitan police London Police James Robinson guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.