We have already expressed real concerns about the management of Operation Elveden (the Met’s corruption inquiry launched after the demise of the News of the World), see our blog dated 3 April 2013, and the situation with these incredibly expensive inquiries does not seem to have improved.
We recently learned (19 June 2013) that police have made 70 arrests under Elveden; the latest individual is a former National Health Service employee.
So far under Elveden, 15 individuals have been charged, one more is waiting to be charged and 6 have either been found or pleaded guilty, mainly police officers.
In Operation Weeting, the telephone hacking enquiry, there have been 37 arrests and 14 charged, all of whom have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
Under Operation Tuleta, which deals with computer hacking, 20 people have been arrested and so far no charges have been laid.
The BBC on their website, lay out a very comprehensive analysis of who has been arrested, their professions, and under which operation the arrest has been made. Many of these people, the majority of whom have been named, are awaiting decisions on their investigations for lengthy periods.
For most of these arrestees, they will be unable to work, suffer financially and they find themselves under intolerable levels of stress. Their relationships flounder because many become clinically depressed.
The Law Society, only very recently, embarked upon a campaign raising awareness of the issues surrounding lengthy periods on bail and the problems that this causes individuals who are still presumed to be guilty. As we have detailed, a number of individuals, when discharged from bail after the CPS and police complete their investigations, find it difficult to resume their lives as before.
Why is this all taking so long? The Metropolitan Police have, apparently, received unprecedented levels of co-operation from News Corp. They have large budgets and teams to deal with the work. So there doesn't appear to be any reasonable explanations for these delays.
Another area of concern to us is why most, but not all, of those individuals on bail have been identified to the media. The authorities have taken a very inconsistent approach to this issue of identification.
For anyone facing such a situation, it is vital to instruct top specialist criminal solicitors who are used to successfully defending your rights and battling with the authorities, and who have finely honed police station advice skills and are tactical experts.
We are currently advising and representing a large number of journalists facing investigation under these operations. Contact us if we can help you in any way. Miles Herman and Siobhain Egan are our key contacts.
