The best of the Met.

Andy Hayman Ex Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police who supervised the original hacking enquiry by Goodman and Mulcaire and who then became a columnist at the News of the World, claimed in his column on the 11th July 2009, that, " We put our best cops on the case."

Mr Hayman goes on to say in his column:

"At the time I was in overall command of Specialist Operations, the part of the Yard that investigated the complaints. My heart sank when I was told the accusations came from the Palace. This was not the time for a half-hearted investigation - we put our best detectives on the case and left no stone unturned as officials breathed down our neck. The Guardian has said it understands that the police file shows between 2,000 and 3,000 individuals had their mobile phones hacked into, far more than was ever officially admitted during the investigation and prosecution of Mr Mulcaire and Mr Goodman.

Yet, my recollection is different. As I recall the list of those targeted, which was put together from records kept by Mr Mulcaire, ran to several hundred names. Of these, there was a small number - perhaps a handful - where there was evidence they had actually been tampered with.

Had there been evidence of tampering in the other cases, that would have been investigated, as would the slightest hint that others were involved."

HT to Richard Wilson @dontgetfooled, for this.