Hacked Off calls on David Cameron to initiate next stage of Leveson Inquiry following 'disappointing' CPS ruling
Hacked off has condemned the CPS’ decision to end the phone hacking prosecutions and called on the the prime minister to launch the next stage of the Leveson Inquiry to investigate police corruption and the failures of corporate governance in the press.
Lord Justice Leveson
The campaign working for the victims of phone hacking said it was “surprised and disappointed” by the CPS' decision to end the investigations after ruling that there was “insufficient evidence”.
It said that the decision meant that News International and former editors at the Mirror would not be held accountable for the “widespread wrongdoing” over many years.
With the closure of the investigation, the way is now clear for the next stage of the Leveson Inquiry which will deal with the full extent of the wrongdoing and failures of corporate governance in the press as well as investigating police misconduct and corruption.
Dr Evan Harris, joint executive director of Hacked Off, said “given what came out at the Mirror civil trial, and the whistleblowers that came forward it is surprising that the CPS are now claiming that there isn’t enough evidence to prosecute".
He added that the “hundreds of people who were victims of illegal conduct by the Mirror will be surprised and disappointed”.
Professor Brian Cathcart, co-founder of Hacked Off, called on the Prime Minister to “honour his promises to the victims of press abuse and to take immediate steps to set up Leveson Part 2”.
He said “the first inquiry was not able to question individuals about the details of phone hacking and other misconduct” and added “now that the prosecutions are over a judge led inquiry will be able to get to the bottom of what happened.”
Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror at the time of the alleged phone hacking, triumphantly announced on Twitter earlier today that he would face no further action and maintained that he had never told anyone to hack a phones.