Detective constable Kevin Maxwell had sued the Metropolitan police for race and sex discrimination

A gay black police officer who accused Scotland Yard of racial and sexual discrimination has won his case at an employment tribunal, which also found that another officer deliberately leaked a “distorted account” of the claim to the Sun newspaper.

Detective Constable Kevin Maxwell, 33, sued the Met for race and sex discrimination after he was abused by colleagues while working in the counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow airport’s terminal five.

Following a 36-day hearing in which Maxwell said he was used as a “buffer” when ethnic minority passengers were stopped at Heathrow, the Metropolitan police was heavily criticised by a judge at a Reading employment tribunal for failing to train officers to deal with ethnic minorities. The tribunal found that Maxwell was required to stop black and Asian people and then hand them over to white officers. It judged that his claim of direct racial discrimination was correct.

Maxwell said he had been subjected to harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation in March 2009 when a detective from Special Branch made comments in his presence about gay men.

A tribunal judge, Richard Byrne, said: “The tribunal makes the observation that it is very surprising – given the resources of the respondent [Metropolitan police] and a well-drafted reporting wrongdoing policy – that the respondent failed to train officers in the application of the policy and failed to comply with it on this occasion.”

The panel was also told how Maxwell had been at a presentation at Paddington police station in London during which reference was made to a photograph of a man in a fairground surrounded by children and that he was “as gay as a gay in a gay tea shop.”

Byrne said: “The comment having been made and other people in the room, including other supervisors, laughing and finding it amusing was inevitably conduct that a gay police officer would reasonably consider as having the effect of violating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.”

Following the incidents, Maxwell went on extended sick leave but was said to have been treated dismissively by senior officers during this period.

When raised his concerns by telling told a chief inspector it was “difficult being black and gay”, the senior officer said: “That’s life”. Byrne ruled this was direct discrimination on the grounds of race and sexual orientation, along with harassment.

Ruling on the claim by Maxwell’s partner, Alex Parr, that details had been leaked to the Sun newspaper about the claims, Byrne said, “The tribunal is entirely satisfied on the evidence heard that on the balance of probabilities the information about the claimant’s case acquired by the Sun came from an officer working for the respondent.”

On this matter, a spokesperson for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it was supervising an investigation by the Metropolitan police directorate of professional standards into a complaint.

Witness Confident: can a street violence map encourage more victims to report crime?

A new idea to report crime in London has been launched today by the charity Witness Confident. It uses witness accounts to map violent crime and sends reports to the Met. The Datablog looks at how this map can be used

• Get the data

Today a new map of crime called Street Violence is launched by the charity Witness Confident.

Unlike Police.uk which displays official statistics of crimes at street level, the Street Violence map will display accounts of street robberies and attacks from witnesses and victims.

The motivation for this, as Witness Confident explain, is that a signficant portion of violent crime is not reported, so making it easier and quicker to share information about crime can help to reduce these lost cases.

The map also serves as a report to help people learn about how crime is tackled in their area. This comes at a time when this reporting increasingly comes from police and council newsletters, according to data from the Home Office’s latest study.

Perhaps the most important feature of the Street Violence map is the way it’s connected to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) through a form that will essentially email the Police as if you were using their own email service.

Witness Confident intend that victims of street robberies and attacks use this facility to report crime to the MPS.

However the Met online, clearly state that this email facility can to be used to report theft but not:

(1) Robbery (where you or the person you are reporting for was subjected to violence or the threat of violence and (2) Burglary (a building has been broken into).

The MPS specifically ask that people do not email, but call 999 to report situations.

In addition, the Met stated this weekend:

“Street crime is taken very seriously by the MPS and in order to reduce street crime and catch offenders, the MPS urges victims to contact police in the quickest way possible by calling 999 or speaking to an officer on patrol nearby. We do not facilitate the online reporting of street crime through the MPS website or any third party website due to the seriousness of street crime and delaying the reporting of such an incident can reduce investigative opportunities.”

So what do you think? Clearly there are times when it is essential to call 999, but is the Street Violence map a valuable addition? Is there a role for a new way of reporting on crime, one that has traditionally been the remit of police and council newspapers?

The map is on trial across London for one year. If you would like to request more locations or for the service to be extended then you can contact Witness Confident to say just that.

We have included the Home Office data on how knowledge of local crime is shared and understood. Let us know what you think in the comments.

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet

More data

Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

World government data

• Search the world’s government data with our gateway

Development and aid data

• Search the world’s global development data with our gateway

Can you do something with this data?

• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk

• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook

Police say man threatened officers with bladed weapon after callout to reports of attempted car break-in in south-east London

A man is in a critical condition after being shot by police in south-east London on Sunday, Scotland Yard said.

Police said armed officers were sent to Forest Hill after the man threatened police with “a large bladed weapon”.

A Met police spokesman said the man was shot using a Taser and firearms. He is in a “critical but stable” condition at King’s College hospital, south London.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating. A spokesman said the man, in his early 20s, was originally from Ghana but now lives in Forest Hill.

“The IPCC have deployed its on-call team and has decided this incident should be investigated independently,” the spokesman said.

IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin said it would examine the circumstances leading up to the shooting: “This young man is receiving medical attention and his condition is described as critical. His family have been informed.”

Police said officers were called at around 5.40am on Sunday following reports from the public that a man was attempting to break into a car.

A Met spokesman said that when police arrived a man threatened them with a large bladed weapon. “The officers retreated and called for further units to assist including firearms officers. The man then approached officers threatening them with the weapon.”

A police spokesman said “a number of knives” were found at the scene and added that officers were meeting the local community to ensure “they are aware of the facts of this incident”.

Greater Manchester police may seek to ban English Defence League march

Police may act to prohibit Saturday’s planned march in Hyde, which follows alleged attack on two white youths in town

The chief constable of Greater Manchester police, Peter Fahy, says he may seek to ban a march by the English Defence League (EDL) over fears it could spark unrest.

Fahy is to meet Tameside councillors to discuss whether to apply for a Home Office ban for Saturday’s planned march in Hyde, Greater Manchester. The protest follows an alleged attack on two white teenagers in the town earlier this month.

The EDL claimed the march would be a national protest against extremism and that any group such as the BNP “with a history of racial politics or racist ideas” would not be welcome.

But the chief constable said: “We are concerned that there could be a threat to peace and order. The attack was an awful crime but I’m not sure we need outsiders coming in, and clearly the fear is that they are just exploiting the situation.”

He said police would be talking to the council about whether to apply to ban the march, although he added that the EDL was legally entitled to stage a static protest.

“It is a very serious issue and the home secretary only uses this power to ban marches on very limited occasions,” he added. The home secretary had to decide if the march could cause a risk to disorder or major disruption to life in the community before deciding whether to ban it or not, he said.

Two white youths, Dan Stringer-Prince and Kevan Brown, were allegedly attacked by a gang of Asian youths in Market Street on 4 February. Stringer-Prince suffered a fractured skull and two broken eye sockets.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident, while two 17-year-olds and a 21-year-old have been released on police bail until 23 April.

Police are treating the incident as a hate crime.

Greater Manchester police said it was aware that Tameside council was opposing the march and speaking to the home secretary about it. “We are working closely with Tameside council,” the force’s spokesman said.

A statement on the EDL website claimed the demonstration was not to further divide communities or win support for racial politics and that the BNP or any group with a history of racial politics or racist ideas would not be welcome.

Witness Confident: can a street violence map encourage more victims to report crime?

A new idea to report crime in London has been launched today by the charity Witness Confident. It uses witness accounts to map violent crime and sends reports to the Met. The Datablog looks at how this map can be used

• Get the data

Today a new map of crime called Street Violence is launched by the charity Witness Confident.

Unlike Police.uk which displays official statistics of crimes at street level, the Street Violence map will display accounts of street robberies and attacks from witnesses and victims.

The motivation for this, as Witness Confident explain, is that a signficant portion of violent crime is not reported, so making it easier and quicker to share information about crime can help to reduce these lost cases.

The map also serves as a report to help people learn about how crime is tackled in their area. This comes at a time when this reporting increasingly comes from police and council newsletters, according to data from the Home Office’s latest study.

Perhaps the most important feature of the Street Violence map is the way it’s connected to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) through a form that will essentially email the Police as if you were using their own email service.

Witness Confident intend that victims of street robberies and attacks use this facility to report crime to the MPS.

However the Met online, clearly state that this email facility can to be used to report theft but not:

(1) Robbery (where you or the person you are reporting for was subjected to violence or the threat of violence and (2) Burglary (a building has been broken into).

The MPS specifically ask that people do not email, but call 999 to report situations.

In addition, the Met stated this weekend:

“Street crime is taken very seriously by the MPS and in order to reduce street crime and catch offenders, the MPS urges victims to contact police in the quickest way possible by calling 999 or speaking to an officer on patrol nearby. We do not facilitate the online reporting of street crime through the MPS website or any third party website due to the seriousness of street crime and delaying the reporting of such an incident can reduce investigative opportunities.”

So what do you think? Clearly there are times when it is essential to call 999, but is the Street Violence map a valuable addition? Is there a role for a new way of reporting on crime, one that has traditionally been the remit of police and council newspapers?

The map is on trial across London for one year. If you would like to request more locations or for the service to be extended then you can contact Witness Confident to say just that.

We have included the Home Office data on how knowledge of local crime is shared and understood. Let us know what you think in the comments.

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet

More data

Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

World government data

• Search the world’s government data with our gateway

Development and aid data

• Search the world’s global development data with our gateway

Can you do something with this data?

• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk

• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook

Detective constable Kevin Maxwell had sued the Metropolitan police for race and sex discrimination

A gay black police officer who accused Scotland Yard of racial and sexual discrimination has won his case at an employment tribunal, which also found that another officer deliberately leaked a “distorted account” of the claim to the Sun newspaper.

Detective Constable Kevin Maxwell, 33, sued the Met for race and sex discrimination after he was abused by colleagues while working in the counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow airport’s terminal five.

Following a 36-day hearing in which Maxwell said he was used as a “buffer” when ethnic minority passengers were stopped at Heathrow, the Metropolitan police was heavily criticised by a judge at a Reading employment tribunal for failing to train officers to deal with ethnic minorities. The tribunal found that Maxwell was required to stop black and Asian people and then hand them over to white officers. It judged that his claim of direct racial discrimination was correct.

Maxwell said he had been subjected to harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation in March 2009 when a detective from Special Branch made comments in his presence about gay men.

A tribunal judge, Richard Byrne, said: “The tribunal makes the observation that it is very surprising – given the resources of the respondent [Metropolitan police] and a well-drafted reporting wrongdoing policy – that the respondent failed to train officers in the application of the policy and failed to comply with it on this occasion.”

The panel was also told how Maxwell had been at a presentation at Paddington police station in London during which reference was made to a photograph of a man in a fairground surrounded by children and that he was “as gay as a gay in a gay tea shop.”

Byrne said: “The comment having been made and other people in the room, including other supervisors, laughing and finding it amusing was inevitably conduct that a gay police officer would reasonably consider as having the effect of violating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.”

Following the incidents, Maxwell went on extended sick leave but was said to have been treated dismissively by senior officers during this period.

When raised his concerns by telling told a chief inspector it was “difficult being black and gay”, the senior officer said: “That’s life”. Byrne ruled this was direct discrimination on the grounds of race and sexual orientation, along with harassment.

Ruling on the claim by Maxwell’s partner, Alex Parr, that details had been leaked to the Sun newspaper about the claims, Byrne said, “The tribunal is entirely satisfied on the evidence heard that on the balance of probabilities the information about the claimant’s case acquired by the Sun came from an officer working for the respondent.”

On this matter, a spokesperson for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it was supervising an investigation by the Metropolitan police directorate of professional standards into a complaint.

Private security firm G4S to run Lincolnshire police station

Company signs £200m deal that will result in 540 civilian staff from Lincolnshire force moving to private sector

Private security firm G4S has been contracted to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire, in what is thought to be one of the most radical outsourcing deals seen so far in Britain.

Under the £200m 10-year deal signed on Wednesday, more than 540 civilian police staff will join the company, which will deliver a range of middle and back-office services.

This means that almost half the force’s 900 civilian workers will be transferred to G4S as a result of the deal.

The new police station, based on a hub-and-spoke design, with 30 custody cells and a two-storey office block will house up to 120 operational staff. The police officers involved will remain police force employees.

G4S will provide Lincolnshire police with a range of support services, including running cells, administering drug tests, firearms licensing, human resources, computer systems and managing the force’s vehicle fleet.

It will also establish a shared services centre that will enable it to sell its expertise in human resources, payroll and finance to other forces.

Lincolnshire police authority is facing a £19.7m cut in its funding from Whitehall over the next four years. G4S claims savings of £28m over the next 10 years or £2.8m a year will be made as a result of the deal.

The Lincolnshire police authority chairman, Barry Young, said: “By taking over a range of support functions, G4S will contribute to the force’s aim of being able to put 97% of its warranted officers in frontline roles by April.

“Crucially, the new strategic partnership will also deliver significant infrastructure investment that will offset the budget reductions called for by the government. I believe we are leading the way.”

Kim Challis, group managing director of G4S government and outsourcing, said the deal was the first of its kind in Britain.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to implement many new innovations, such as our purpose-built ‘Bridewell’ custody suites – the first of which will be completed within a year,” he said.

“This new police station will be the first, tangible demonstration of the benefits this partnership will bring to Lincolnshire. But others, such as the planned shared services centre, will place Lincolnshire at the heart of Britain’s policing future, generating vital additional income as well as creating new jobs.”

But the Police Federation has raised concerns about the deal pointing out that police force staff have an enshrined sense of public duty, whereas private employees may not.

“Our concern is the resilience of the companies doing this,” said Simon Reed, the organisation’s vice-chairman. “When we have national emergencies or unforeseen events, will they be able to bring their staff in to work long hours, regardless of what their contracts say?”

Greater Manchester police may seek to ban English Defence League march

Police may act to prohibit Saturday’s planned march in Hyde, which follows alleged attack on two white youths in town

The chief constable of Greater Manchester police, Peter Fahy, says he may seek to ban a march by the English Defence League (EDL) over fears it could spark unrest.

Fahy is to meet Tameside councillors to discuss whether to apply for a Home Office ban for Saturday’s planned march in Hyde, Greater Manchester. The protest follows an alleged attack on two white teenagers in the town earlier this month.

The EDL claimed the march would be a national protest against extremism and that any group such as the BNP “with a history of racial politics or racist ideas” would not be welcome.

But the chief constable said: “We are concerned that there could be a threat to peace and order. The attack was an awful crime but I’m not sure we need outsiders coming in, and clearly the fear is that they are just exploiting the situation.”

He said police would be talking to the council about whether to apply to ban the march, although he added that the EDL was legally entitled to stage a static protest.

“It is a very serious issue and the home secretary only uses this power to ban marches on very limited occasions,” he added. The home secretary had to decide if the march could cause a risk to disorder or major disruption to life in the community before deciding whether to ban it or not, he said.

Two white youths, Dan Stringer-Prince and Kevan Brown, were allegedly attacked by a gang of Asian youths in Market Street on 4 February. Stringer-Prince suffered a fractured skull and two broken eye sockets.

A 21-year-old man has been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident, while two 17-year-olds and a 21-year-old have been released on police bail until 23 April.

Police are treating the incident as a hate crime.

Greater Manchester police said it was aware that Tameside council was opposing the march and speaking to the home secretary about it. “We are working closely with Tameside council,” the force’s spokesman said.

A statement on the EDL website claimed the demonstration was not to further divide communities or win support for racial politics and that the BNP or any group with a history of racial politics or racist ideas would not be welcome.

Police identified Vincent Derrick using dental records after making discovery near junction three of M60 in Stockport

The widow of a man whose remains were found under a motorway flyover more than eight years after he disappeared, said the uncertainty about what had happened was the toughest part of her life.

Police used dental records to identify the remains of Vincent Derrick, then 28, who vanished on a night out with colleagues in Manchester city centre in the early hours of 30 August 2003.

His remains were found in an area beneath the flyover near junction three of the M60 in Stockport, Greater Manchester, on Wednesday evening. There were no clothes or paperwork that helped identify the remains, but his family were informed by police, as it was close to where he had been dropped off by taxi.

At a press conference on Friday, Vicki Derrick wept as she explained how she could now “rest easy”, after campaigning relentlessly for more than eight years to find out what happened to her husband.

But she said she still has a lot of questions that need to be answered about his death. He disappeared on a work night out at the Jabez Clegg nightclub in the student district of Manchester. He left the club shortly after midnight and took a taxi, but failed to arrive at his boss’s house in Heald Green, Stockport, where he planned to spend the night.

Over the past eight years, Greater Manchester police and his family have made numerous appeals to the public for information to help end the uncertainty. “I was never going to be satisfied until Vinny was found,” Vicki said at a press conference in Manchester. “I was never going to give up, I always wanted to believe that this day would come.”

“I keep saying whatever happened, happened on that night, and I can now rest easy with the fact I have always believed that. There are lots of questions that I have and I am waiting to be answered.

“The past eight years have been the toughest eight years of my life and it hasn’t been easy. It is quite ironic that we have now found Vinny and the struggle that I had all last year trying to get the presumption of death certificate … and now he has been found.”

Derrick’s mother, Dawn Kelsall, said: “It is a relief but, as Victoria says, it’s very, very hard. “Yes, we have wanted this answer for a long time but it was such a shock. It came out of the blue. You are going about your normal life and it was such a shock.

“It is just like it was eight years ago. Just as hard. There is not a week that goes by, in the eight years that we have gone through, that you don’t think ‘Is something going to come up? I wish they’d find him’. And it is just such a shock now at how they have found him.”

Police said they are still not sure if he died in suspicious circumstances and are continuing to examine the scene, which is likely to be cordoned off over the weekend as forensic examinations take place.

Anyone with information is asked to call Stockport CID on 0161 856 9840, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Police shooting leaves man in critical condition

Police say man threatened officers with bladed weapon after callout to reports of attempted car break-in in south-east London

A man is in a critical condition after being shot by police in south-east London on Sunday, Scotland Yard said.

Police said armed officers were sent to Forest Hill after the man threatened police with “a large bladed weapon”.

A Met police spokesman said the man was shot using a Taser and firearms. He is in a “critical but stable” condition at King’s College hospital, south London.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating. A spokesman said the man, in his early 20s, was originally from Ghana but now lives in Forest Hill.

“The IPCC have deployed its on-call team and has decided this incident should be investigated independently,” the spokesman said.

IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin said it would examine the circumstances leading up to the shooting: “This young man is receiving medical attention and his condition is described as critical. His family have been informed.”

Police said officers were called at around 5.40am on Sunday following reports from the public that a man was attempting to break into a car.

A Met spokesman said that when police arrived a man threatened them with a large bladed weapon. “The officers retreated and called for further units to assist including firearms officers. The man then approached officers threatening them with the weapon.”

A police spokesman said “a number of knives” were found at the scene and added that officers were meeting the local community to ensure “they are aware of the facts of this incident”.

Private security firm G4S to run Lincolnshire police station

Company signs £200m deal that see more than 540 civilian staff from Lincolnshire force move to the private sector

Private security firm G4S has been contracted to design, build and run a police station in Lincolnshire, in what is thought to be one of the most radical outsourcing deals seen so far in Britain.

More than 540 civilian police staff will join the company in April under an agreement signed on Wednesdaythat will see Lincolnshire police authority pay £200m over the next 10 years to deliver a range of middle and back office services. This means that almost half the force’s 900 civilian workers will be transferred to G4S as a result of the deal.

The new police station, based on a hub-and-spoke design, with 30 custody cells and a two-storey office block will house up to 120 operational staff. The police officers involved will remain police force employees.

G4S will provide Lincolnshire police with a range of support services, including running cells, administering drug tests, firearms licensing, human resources, computer systems and managing the force’s vehicle fleet.

It will also establish a shared services centre that will enable it to sell its expertise in human resources, payroll and finance to other forces.

Lincolnshire police authority are facing a £19.7m cut in its funding from Whitehall over the next four years. G4S claims savings of £28m over the next 10 years or £2.8m a year will be made as a result of the deal.

Lincolnshire police authority chairman, Barry Young said: “By taking over a range of support functions, G4S will contribute to the force’s aim of being able to put 97% of its warranted officers in frontline roles by April.

“Crucially, the new strategic partnership will also deliver significant infrastructure investment that will offset the budget reductions called for by the government. I believe we are leading the way.” Kim Challis, group managing director of G4S government and outsourcing, said the deal was the first of its kind in Britain.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to implement many new innovations, such as our purpose-built ‘Bridewell’ custody suites – the first of which will be completed within a year,” he said.

“This new police station will be the first, tangible demonstration of the benefits this partnership will bring to Lincolnshire. But others, such as the planned shared services centre, will place Lincolnshire at the heart of Britain’s policing future, generating vital additional income as well as creating new jobs.”

But the Police Federation has raised concerns about the deal pointing out that police force staff have an enshrined sense of public duty, whereas private employees may not.

“Our concern is the resilience of the companies doing this,” said Simon Reed, the organisation’s vice-chairman. “When we have national emergencies or unforeseen events, will they be able to bring their staff in to work long hours, regardless of what their contracts say?”

Move comes after bid to free man who has been ‘rendered’ by US forces for eight years was rejected by UK appeal court

Lawyers attempting to secure the release of a man who has been detained by US forces for eight years after being captured by British troops in Iraq have lodged a complaint about the case with Scotland Yard.

The move comes after a bid to use an ancient piece of English common law to secure the freedom of Yunus Rahmatullah was rejected by the appeal court in London.

Rahmatullah was “rendered” to Bagram prison in Afghanistan after SAS soldiers detained him in Baghdad in February 2004 then handed him over to the US military.

In December three appeal judges – Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Sullivan – directed the issue of a writ of habeas corpus, and said Rahmatullah should be freed.

But on Monday appeal judges cancelled the release order after being told that American authorities were not going to “play ball” and British ministers had “reached the end of the road”.

Lawyers representing Foreign Office and defence ministers said American authorities were not prepared to transfer Rahmatullah and did not accept that they had any obligation under international law.

In a letter to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, Rahmatullah’s lawyers at the legal charity Reprieve said that he and another man were severely abused in Iraq before being taken out of the country, in breach of the Geneva Conventions. “The evidence that certain war crimes were committed also seems beyond dispute,” they wrote.

UK thieves hijack sports car with 5-year-old in back
UK police were searching Friday for two men who allegedly hijacked a sports car with a five-year-old boy in the back seat.

Labour MP’s letter to Met police says he believes bail conditions ban arrested journalists from making contact with each other

Labour MP Tom Watson has written to the head of the Metropolitan police questioning whether Rupert Murdoch is legally entitled to lift the suspensions of Sun staff arrested in relation to alleged payments to public officials.

Watson says it has been “known for many years” that Murdoch’s company has “destroyed and obstructed police and parliamentary inquiries into corrupt and illegal practices” and asks the Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan Howe, whether he is “satisfied vital evidence is secure as a result of Mr Murdoch’s actions”.

The media mogul announced on Friday that any of the 10 staff who were arrested in relation to alleged bribery could return to work and five of them have already done so, with the remaining five expected to return in the next week.

Watson’s intervention comes as the Sun prepares to launch its first Sunday edition this weekend.

Watson, who has been at the vanguard of the parliamentary investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, believes the bail conditions ban any of those arrested from making contact with each other, which would suggest that it could be problematic for them to work together.

Scotland Yard has refused to comment but sources at News International have indicated that a “no contact” condition does not apply to the 10 Sun staff.

In his letter to Hogan-Howe, Watson says: “It seems remarkable that the people being investigated of such serious crimes should be put in a position that makes it impossible to determine whether bail terms have been breached.”

In addition to this clarification, Watson asks Hogan Howe to “confirm that you have secured computer and paper filing systems” relevant to the investigation into police payments.

“The public will think it odd that the circumstances that lead to the bail of a number of high profile individuals will allow them to be in the proximity of evidence that can be tampered with.”

In January police launched a raid of the Sun headquarters in Wapping and are believed to have taken away computers, notepads and other material.

Watson’s letter comes just weeks after News International was accused by a high court judge of destroying evidence that could have helped in the investigations into phone hacking.

In January News Group Newspapers, the part of News International that owned the News of the World, was ordered to search its computer databases for evidence of an alleged cover-up. Mr Justice Vos, who is presiding over civil actions against News International said he had seen evidence that raised “compelling questions about whether [NGN] concealed, told lies, actively tried to get off scot free”. In that same hearing, it was alleged that in 2010 computers used by eight News of the World journalists implicated in phone hacking were “physically destroyed” by the company.

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Man charged over Stansted airport hoax bomb threat

Lancashire police say 40-year-old was arrested after falsely claiming a van full of explosives was on its way to airport

A 40-year-old man has been charged over a hoax bomb threat made to Stansted airport, police said on Saturday.

Lancashire police said a call was made warning that a van was on its way to the Essex airport with explosives on board on Friday morning.

Paul Jackson, 40, of Infirmary Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, is due to appear at Blackburn magistrates court on Saturday charged with communicating false information.

A police spokesman said: “Jackson was arrested by Lancashire police at an address in Infirmary Street, Blackburn, Friday morning, after hoax calls were made to a police force falsely stating that a van was on its way to Stansted airport with explosives on board.”

A second man, also aged 40 and from Blackburn, was arrested on Friday in connection with the offence. He has now been released without charge.

Human remains found under M60 flyover may be missing Sale man

Stockport police are investigating whether skeleton could be that of Vincent Derrick, who disappeared nearly nine years ago

Police in Greater Manchester said human remains found beneath a motorway flyover may belong to a missing father who vanished almost nine years ago after a night out.

The skeleton was found by workmen beneath the M60 flyover on Wednesday at Cheadle, Greater Manchester. There were no clothes or paperwork that could identify the remains.

The family of Vincent Derrick, then 28, who disappeared in August 2003 after a night out with work colleagues, have been informed of the discovery, even though the remains have yet to be positively identified.

Detective Chief Inspector Sara Wallwork, of Stockport CID, said: “We are in the process of conducting a careful examination of the location and only when this has been done will we be able to remove the remains for further examination.

“At this stage, we do not know if there are any suspicious circumstances or even if these are the full remains of a body – whether they belong to a man or woman, adult or child or how long they have been there.”

She said she realised there will be some concern and speculation but urged the local community to bear with the police while they carry out a careful and thorough investigation.

Derrick disappeared after a night at the Jabez Clegg nightclub in the student district of Manchester. He left the club shortly after midnight on 30 August 2003 and took a taxi, but failed to arrive at his boss’s house in Heald Green, Stockport, where he had planned to spend the night.

Over the past eight years, Greater Manchester Police and his family have made numerous appeals to the public for information to help end the uncertainty.

Speaking to the media previously, his wife Vicki said: “There have never been any positive sightings or leads so it seems as if he just vanished. However, I know that’s not possible.

“I truly believe that someone, somewhere knows something that will help piece together the puzzle to help us trace Vinny’s whereabouts and what happened to him.”

She said the hardest thing was not knowing and she was campaigning for clarity surrounding the law on missing people.

The remains were found close to where Derrick was last seen. Officers have spoken to his family in Sale, Greater Manchester.

It is thought he was dropped off by a taxi driver at a roundabout close to the John Lewis store in Cheadle – about two miles from where the remains were unearthed.

The area was cordoned off by officers and forensic work is expected to take several days. Police say their investigations are ongoing and it could be some time before the remains are identified.

In a statement released on Thursday, Vicki Derrick confirmed she had been contacted by police following the discovery of remains in Stockport and she is being supported by a specialist family liaison officer. She said she does not want to speak to the media until a positive identification on the remains is made by police.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Stockport CID or the anonymous Crimestoppers hotline.

Give people a drinking licence, and take it away if they cause enough damage | Brian Kellett

I’ve worked in ambulances and am sick of seeing people bingeing on alcohol without having to face consequences

David Cameron has called for “innovative solutions” to tackle the problem of alcohol in society. Having been ambulance staff, I have spent a lot of my time picking up people who had been injured or just rendered incapable due to alcohol, which means I am well-placed to talk about the evils of alcohol and certainly wouldn’t agree with Nicholas Lezard’s comments on the issue.

Dealing with vomit and violence I would take these patients to the local A&E department. Overworked and often understaffed, the nurses there would have to deal with these high-dependency patients, cleaning them up, trying to stop them urinating over the side of the trolley and dodging their flailing fists.

For every quiet drunk slumped in a public place there are three or four similarly intoxicated patients with head injuries, lacerations, or people who have made suicide attempts – not to mention those who seem to have turned up just because they want to fight with hospital staff.

While this goes on, the staff are trying to look after an older woman who fell and broke her hip, the woman having a miscarriage or the anxious, mentally ill man who all suddenly find themselves in Hogarth’s Gin Lane.

The police can’t arrest these patients – strangely, the public get concerned when drunks start choking to death on their own vomit, so custody sergeants won’t allow heavily intoxicated people in their cells. Instead, they go to A&E.

The problem is that people drink, and continue to drink, because there are no consequences. I could go out this afternoon, buy a load of alcohol and drink myself into a stupor in a public place. At 10pm, as I finally slump over into someone’s front garden, a free ambulance will arrive and take me to hospital where I will be looked after – I’ll have some IV fluids and painkiller that will reduce any hangover I would feel in the morning. If I try to hit the staff, the police won’t be called because I never managed to connect and it’s “part of the job”. I may even be given fresh clothes from a charity hamper. At no point will I have to talk to the police about being drunk and disorderly.

Tomorrow, I can do the same thing again. My friends will hear about the consequence-free night and will be encouraged to do the same. The “innovative solutions” so far mentioned include more police in A&E departments, specialised “Booze bus” ambulances and so called “drunk tanks”. Given that the police are overstretched and budgets are being cut, I’d like to know where these extra police will come from to take charge of the drunks in A&E. Given the previously mentioned “choking to death on their own vomit” worry what would the police do with them anyway?

The booze bus and drunk tank ideas, while no doubt welcomed by A&E staff, are just wallpapering over the cracks – an attempt to make resources go further without actually addressing the root cause of people acting without consequences.

I have two simple proposals – one economic and one legal. First, the government should increase the tax on privately bought alcohol and slash the tax on pub-bought alcohol. This would create jobs in the service industry, provide a social atmosphere for drinking and allow publicans to stop serving alcohol to the heavily intoxicated. I’d want more enforcement of the civil offence of serving alcohol to someone who is intoxicated.

Second, I propose a drinking licence, something very similar to the driving licence. On your 18th birthday you are given a laminated card that entitles you to drink as much as you like. When at the pub or off-licence buying alcohol you show them your card.

If you find yourself spending time in A&E for being drunk, charged with drunkenly smashing a restaurant window, or punching your girlfriend in the face because you are drunk and she “winds you up” then you get points on your drinking licence.

A point here, a point there, and when you accumulate enough points to prove that you are not adult enough to use a mind-altering substance responsibly then, much like someone who is too dangerous to drive, your drinking licence is taken away.

I don’t see this as infringing liberties any more than a driving or firearms licence. Certainly, alcohol kills more people a year than cars and guns put together. Suddenly, there are consequences. The fines from drinking without a licence could go to domestic violence support, to local A&E departments and to alcohol treatment programmes.

• Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfree

Watson queries whether Murdoch can lift suspensions of arrested Sun staff

Labour MP’s letter to Met police says he believes bail conditions ban arrested journalists from making contact with each other

Labour MP Tom Watson has written to the head of the Metropolitan police questioning whether Rupert Murdoch is legally entitled to lift the suspensions of Sun staff arrested in relation to alleged payments to public officials.

Watson says it has been “known for many years” that Murdoch’s company has “destroyed and obstructed police and parliamentary inquiries into corrupt and illegal practices” and asks the Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan Howe, whether he is “satisfied vital evidence is secure as a result of Mr Murdoch’s actions”.

The media mogul announced on Friday that any of the 10 staff who were arrested in relation to alleged bribery could return to work and five of them have already done so, with the remaining five expected to return in the next week.

Watson’s intervention comes as the Sun prepares to launch its first Sunday edition this weekend.

Watson, who has been at the vanguard of the parliamentary investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, believes the bail conditions ban any of those arrested from making contact with each other, which would suggest that it could be problematic for them to work together.

Scotland Yard has refused to comment but sources at News International have indicated that a “no contact” condition does not apply to the 10 Sun staff.

In his letter to Hogan-Howe, Watson says: “It seems remarkable that the people being investigated of such serious crimes should be put in a position that makes it impossible to determine whether bail terms have been breached.”

In addition to this clarification, Watson asks Hogan Howe to “confirm that you have secured computer and paper filing systems” relevant to the investigation into police payments.

“The public will think it odd that the circumstances that lead to the bail of a number of high profile individuals will allow them to be in the proximity of evidence that can be tampered with.”

In January police launched a raid of the Sun headquarters in Wapping and are believed to have taken away computers, notepads and other material.

Watson’s letter comes just weeks after News International was accused by a high court judge of destroying evidence that could have helped in the investigations into phone hacking.

In January News Group Newspapers, the part of News International that owned the News of the World, was ordered to search its computer databases for evidence of an alleged cover-up. Mr Justice Vos, who is presiding over civil actions against News International said he had seen evidence that raised “compelling questions about whether [NGN] concealed, told lies, actively tried to get off scot free”. In that same hearing, it was alleged that in 2010 computers used by eight News of the World journalists implicated in phone hacking were “physically destroyed” by the company.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”.

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.

I’ve worked in ambulances and am sick of seeing people bingeing on alcohol without having to face consequences

David Cameron has called for “innovative solutions” to tackle the problem of alcohol in society. Having been ambulance staff, I have spent a lot of my time picking up people who had been injured or just rendered incapable due to alcohol, which means I am well-placed to talk about the evils of alcohol and certainly wouldn’t agree with Nicholas Lezard’s comments on the issue.

Dealing with vomit and violence I would take these patients to the local A&E department. Overworked and often understaffed, the nurses there would have to deal with these high-dependency patients, cleaning them up, trying to stop them urinating over the side of the trolley and dodging their flailing fists.

For every quiet drunk slumped in a public place there are three or four similarly intoxicated patients with head injuries, lacerations, or people who have made suicide attempts – not to mention those who seem to have turned up just because they want to fight with hospital staff.

While this goes on, the staff are trying to look after an older woman who fell and broke her hip, the woman having a miscarriage or the anxious, mentally ill man who all suddenly find themselves in Hogarth’s Gin Lane.

The police can’t arrest these patients – strangely, the public get concerned when drunks start choking to death on their own vomit, so custody sergeants won’t allow heavily intoxicated people in their cells. Instead, they go to A&E.

The problem is that people drink, and continue to drink, because there are no consequences. I could go out this afternoon, buy a load of alcohol and drink myself into a stupor in a public place. At 10pm, as I finally slump over into someone’s front garden, a free ambulance will arrive and take me to hospital where I will be looked after – I’ll have some IV fluids and painkiller that will reduce any hangover I would feel in the morning. If I try to hit the staff, the police won’t be called because I never managed to connect and it’s “part of the job”. I may even be given fresh clothes from a charity hamper. At no point will I have to talk to the police about being drunk and disorderly.

Tomorrow, I can do the same thing again. My friends will hear about the consequence-free night and will be encouraged to do the same. The “innovative solutions” so far mentioned include more police in A&E departments, specialised “Booze bus” ambulances and so called “drunk tanks”. Given that the police are overstretched and budgets are being cut, I’d like to know where these extra police will come from to take charge of the drunks in A&E. Given the previously mentioned “choking to death on their own vomit” worry what would the police do with them anyway?

The booze bus and drunk tank ideas, while no doubt welcomed by A&E staff, are just wallpapering over the cracks – an attempt to make resources go further without actually addressing the root cause of people acting without consequences.

I have two simple proposals – one economic and one legal. First, the government should increase the tax on privately bought alcohol and slash the tax on pub-bought alcohol. This would create jobs in the service industry, provide a social atmosphere for drinking and allow publicans to stop serving alcohol to the heavily intoxicated. I’d want more enforcement of the civil offence of serving alcohol to someone who is intoxicated.

Second, I propose a drinking licence, something very similar to the driving licence. On your 18th birthday you are given a laminated card that entitles you to drink as much as you like. When at the pub or off-licence buying alcohol you show them your card.

If you find yourself spending time in A&E for being drunk, charged with drunkenly smashing a restaurant window, or punching your girlfriend in the face because you are drunk and she “winds you up” then you get points on your drinking licence.

A point here, a point there, and when you accumulate enough points to prove that you are not adult enough to use a mind-altering substance responsibly then, much like someone who is too dangerous to drive, your drinking licence is taken away.

I don’t see this as infringing liberties any more than a driving or firearms licence. Certainly, alcohol kills more people a year than cars and guns put together. Suddenly, there are consequences. The fines from drinking without a licence could go to domestic violence support, to local A&E departments and to alcohol treatment programmes.

• Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfree

Dame Anne Owers appointed as IPCC chief

Former chief inspector of prisons to lead police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission

The former chief inspector of prisons Dame Anne Owers has been appointed to lead the independent police watchdog.

The appointment comes after nearly two years in which the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been without a permanent chairperson, and at a time when the organisation is involved in several high-profile investigations.

Owers, who was chief inspector of prisons from 2001 to 2010, said: “I am delighted to be joining the IPCC at this exciting time of change and challenge for the commission and the police service.

“The IPCC’s independent investigation and oversight plays a critical role in ensuring public confidence in policing, and I look forward to working with the commissioners and staff as they continue to carry it out.”

While chief inspector of prisons, Owers gained a formidable reputation and produced a series of hard-hitting, critical reports. She has recently been carrying out an inquiry into the reorganisation of the Northern Ireland prison service. She labelled the system in Northern Ireland “dysfunctional, demoralised and ineffective”, in a report last October judged by justice ministers as a “watershed”.

The appointment of the new chair comes after months in which the IPCC has seemed at times rudderless, with some insiders complaining of a lack of leadership. The last permanent chair, Nick Hardwick, left in April last year, and since then the organisation has faced some of its biggest challenges. It is currently involved in an independent inquiry into the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan last August, which sparked the summer riots. It is also supervising Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan police’s investigation into alleged police bribes – an inquiry that has seen it exercise its powers of arrest.

Owers’s appointment amounts to a straight – albeit very protracted – job swap with the former IPCC chair Hardwick, who took over as chief inspector of prisons in 2010 following his departure from the police watchdog.

It is believed that several other candidates were interviewed and rejected last summer. A second interview process in the autumn with a fresh set of candidates was carried out, but there were still long delays before any announcement by the home secretary could be made.

Owers will take an annual salary of £60,000 for the part-time role.

The home secretary, Theresa May, said Owers “has considerable experience of criminal justice and a formidable public reputation”.

As IPCC chair she would “challenge all parties to get to the truth and ensure that the organisation provides a fair, transparent and trusted service to the public and police”, May said.

Jane Furniss, the IPCC’s chief executive, said: “Dame Anne Owers’ experience of leading organisations based on independence could not be stronger.

“This, coupled with her wealth of knowledge from across the criminal justice system makes for an exciting new era for the IPCC.

“I welcome the appointment and very much look forward to working with her to build upon the last eight years and take the work of the IPCC forward.”

Deborah Glass, the deputy chairwoman of the IPCC, added: “This is timely, with the recently launched review of the way that we investigate our most serious cases, the work we are doing on police corruption and the increasingly high number of independent investigations we are conducting.”

Owers will take over from the current interim chairman, Len Jackson, and was appointed by the Queen following recommendations from the home secretary and prime minister.

Her strong human rights background includes roles as director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, and co-director of Justice, the UK based human rights and law reform organisation.

Owers was educated at Washington grammar school, County Durham, and at Girton college, Cambridge. On graduating she went to Zambia to teach and to carry out research into African history. While taking time out to bring up her three children, Owers continued to undertake research as well as doing voluntary advice and race relations work.

Detective constable Kevin Maxwell had sued the Metropolitan police for race and sex discrimination

A gay black police officer who accused Scotland Yard of racial and sexual discrimination has won his case at an employment tribunal, which also found that another officer deliberately leaked a “distorted account” of the claim to the Sun newspaper.

Detective Constable Kevin Maxwell, 33, sued the Met for race and sex discrimination after he was abused by colleagues while working in the counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow airport’s terminal five.

Following a 36-day hearing in which Maxwell said he was used as a “buffer” when ethnic minority passengers were stopped at Heathrow, the Metropolitan police was heavily criticised by a judge at a Reading employment tribunal for failing to train officers to deal with ethnic minorities. The tribunal found that Maxwell was required to stop black and Asian people and then hand them over to white officers. It judged that his claim of direct racial discrimination was correct.

Maxwell said he had been subjected to harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation in March 2009 when a detective from Special Branch made comments in his presence about gay men.

A tribunal judge, Richard Byrne, said: “The tribunal makes the observation that it is very surprising – given the resources of the respondent [Metropolitan police] and a well-drafted reporting wrongdoing policy – that the respondent failed to train officers in the application of the policy and failed to comply with it on this occasion.”

The panel was also told how Maxwell had been at a presentation at Paddington police station in London during which reference was made to a photograph of a man in a fairground surrounded by children and that he was “as gay as a gay in a gay tea shop.”

Byrne said: “The comment having been made and other people in the room, including other supervisors, laughing and finding it amusing was inevitably conduct that a gay police officer would reasonably consider as having the effect of violating their dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.”

Following the incidents, Maxwell went on extended sick leave but was said to have been treated dismissively by senior officers during this period.

When raised his concerns by telling told a chief inspector it was “difficult being black and gay”, the senior officer said: “That’s life”. Byrne ruled this was direct discrimination on the grounds of race and sexual orientation, along with harassment.

Ruling on the claim by Maxwell’s partner, Alex Parr, that details had been leaked to the Sun newspaper about the claims, Byrne said, “The tribunal is entirely satisfied on the evidence heard that on the balance of probabilities the information about the claimant’s case acquired by the Sun came from an officer working for the respondent.”

On this matter, a spokesperson for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it was supervising an investigation by the Metropolitan police directorate of professional standards into a complaint.

Ex-UK police officer convicted of corruption
A former senior British police officer was sentenced to jail on corruption charges Monday for falsely arresting a business rival over a financial dispute.

Man charged over Stansted airport hoax bomb threat

Lancashire police say 40-year-old was arrested after falsely claiming a van full of explosives was on its way to airport

A 40-year-old man has been charged over a hoax bomb threat made to Stansted airport, police said on Saturday.

Lancashire police said a call was made warning that a van was on its way to the Essex airport with explosives on board on Friday morning.

Paul Jackson, 40, of Infirmary Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, is due to appear at Blackburn magistrates court on Saturday charged with communicating false information.

A police spokesman said: “Jackson was arrested by Lancashire police at an address in Infirmary Street, Blackburn, Friday morning, after hoax calls were made to a police force falsely stating that a van was on its way to Stansted airport with explosives on board.”

A second man, also aged 40 and from Blackburn, was arrested on Friday in connection with the offence. He has now been released without charge.

Crackdown on London's gangs nets drugs, cash and weapons including a crossbow

Anti-gang police have made more than 500 arrests and seized weapons including 14 guns, a crossbow and a Samurai sword in a three-day blitz on London's crime network.

A total of 515 arrests were made and a "huge" amount of drugs, cash and weapons seized as a result of the raids, spearheaded by the newly formed Trident Gang Crime Command.

The crackdown involved almost 5,000 Metropolitan police officers and resulted in 253 people being charged with offences ranging from grievous bodily harm and possession of firearms to violent disorder and assault.

A further 186 suspects were bailed pending further investigation, while 17 others received cautions. Eight penalty notices, one final warning and three reprimands were also issued. Forty seven suspects were released with no further action.

The seized weapons included 14 guns, 37 knives and blades, CS gas canisters, a crossbow, a Samurai sword, 17 coshes and a dangerous dog. The firearms included a sawn-off shotgun, eight handguns (two semi-automatic), three imitation firearms, a Taser and a gas-powered gun.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Cundy, Trident Gang Crime Commander, said: "We are absolutely delighted that the carefully planned three days of operations have yielded such excellent results.

"The number of arrests and seizures of firearms send a clear message to those who persist in gang violence that we will pursue them relentlessly, using all the options at our disposal. But I would reiterate that we want to prevent young people getting involved in gang offending.

"We are working with other agencies to offer them routes out, such as the conflict resolution service we can refer people to, as well as other types of assistance from other statutory and voluntary partners.

"These results give us a valuable basis for moving forward in our intention of reducing gang crime and improving community support for what we want to achieve, namely protecting some of our most vulnerable victims and communities in London."

The raids saw police seize drugs including half a kilo of crack cocaine in Southwark and 67 grams of heroin in New Cross, south-east London. Four cannabis factories were also uncovered.

In Bexley alone, 50 tennis ball-sized packets of crack, two large compressed cases of skunk cannabis, 1kg of heroin and £10,000 in cash were seized, while in Brent, 668 mature cannabis plants were found. In Wandsworth, crystal meth was seized from a property along with a Taser.

Police also recovered £254,000 in cash and more than 25 vehicles, including a £40,000 Mercedes. In the course of the three-day operation, top gang member targets in all 32 boroughs were visited.

Watson queries whether Murdoch can lift suspensions of arrested Sun staff

Labour MP's letter to Met police says he believes bail conditions ban arrested journalists from making contact with each other

Labour MP Tom Watson has written to the head of the Metropolitan police questioning whether Rupert Murdoch is legally entitled to lift the suspensions of Sun staff arrested in relation to alleged payments to public officials.

Watson says it has been "known for many years" that Murdoch's company has "destroyed and obstructed police and parliamentary inquiries into corrupt and illegal practices" and asks the Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan Howe, whether he is "satisfied vital evidence is secure as a result of Mr Murdoch's actions".

The media mogul announced on Friday that any of the 10 staff who were arrested in relation to alleged bribery could return to work and five of them have already done so, with the remaining five expected to return in the next week.

Watson's intervention comes as the Sun prepares to launch its first Sunday edition this weekend.

Watson, who has been at the vanguard of the parliamentary investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, believes the bail conditions ban any of those arrested from making contact with each other, which would suggest that it could be problematic for them to work together.

Scotland Yard has refused to comment but sources at News International have indicated that a "no contact" condition does not apply to the 10 Sun staff.

In his letter to Hogan-Howe, Watson says: "It seems remarkable that the people being investigated of such serious crimes should be put in a position that makes it impossible to determine whether bail terms have been breached."

In addition to this clarification, Watson asks Hogan Howe to "confirm that you have secured computer and paper filing systems" relevant to the investigation into police payments.

"The public will think it odd that the circumstances that lead to the bail of a number of high profile individuals will allow them to be in the proximity of evidence that can be tampered with."

In January police launched a raid of the Sun headquarters in Wapping and are believed to have taken away computers, notepads and other material.

Watson's letter comes just weeks after News International was accused by a high court judge of destroying evidence that could have helped in the investigations into phone hacking.

In January News Group Newspapers, the part of News International that owned the News of the World, was ordered to search its computer databases for evidence of an alleged cover-up. Mr Justice Vos, who is presiding over civil actions against News International said he had seen evidence that raised "compelling questions about whether [NGN] concealed, told lies, actively tried to get off scot free". In that same hearing, it was alleged that in 2010 computers used by eight News of the World journalists implicated in phone hacking were "physically destroyed" by the company.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.

UK police arrest suspect wanted in connection with vicar's murder
FOLKESTONE, England — British police hunting a "dangerous" man for the murder of a clergyman in his vicarage arrested a 47 year old Sunday. Detectives said Saturday that they were looking for Stephen Farrow in connection with the killing of Rev. John Suddards, who was found stabbed to death. Officers…