Yard deny Sun’s ‘witch-hunt’ claims

Scotland Yard has defended its handling of the inquiries into hacking and corrupt payments by journalists amid heavy criticism, insisting the operations were not “in any way disproportionate”.

Trevor Kavanagh, associate editor of the Sun, claimed the police investigation into alleged press malpractice was regarded by many as a “witch-hunt” after five of his colleagues were arrested at the weekend.

But police said in a statement that “given the seriousness of the allegations currently under investigation and the significant number of victims, the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) does not believe that the level of resources devoted to the three inquiries is in any way disproportionate to the enormous task in hand.”

Mr Kavanagh suggested up to 20 officers at a time had raided the homes of editorial staff but police said only 10 officers were involved.