Leveson inquiry: Met 'graded' reporters on positivity towards police

The Metropolitan Police "graded" national newspaper reporters according to how positively they reported the forces activities, it was alleged today. Mike Sullivan, the crime editor of the Sun, told the Leveson inquiry that he was "reliably informed perhaps three or four years ago" that the system existed and would mark reporters according to the "stories which are critical of the Met" and those that are not. He said he didn't know how they made that judgment but he was told the system existed. His claim was denied by the Met Police. Neil Garnham, counsel for the Met, suggested the information had been misconstrued. However when Sullivan refused to withdraw the claim, he said his source had been misinformed. Sullivan, one of 10 Sun journalists arrested earlier this year over corruption allegations, was not required to answer any questions on this matter. He told the inquiry that he was not particularly close to Met chiefs although he was part of "a circle of trusted journalists" that the head of public affairs, Dick Fedorcio, would talk to about stories. In testimony that lasted just over an hour, he said the Sun was "supportive" of the "rank and file officers" who the newspaper considered to be among its core readership but didn't always see eye to eye with the police commissioners. Former Met chief Lord Blair was cited as someone the Sun had issues with. "I don't think he [Blair] was our cup of tea and I dare say we wouldn't have been his cup of tea, but there was a problematic relationship, which – I say that, [but] we weren't overtly critical of him for the sake of it," said Sullivan. The inquiry heard that there was no evidence that Sullivan had lunches or dinners with the bosses at the Met. Sullivan said: "Going back in time, I can't recall being particularly close to any assistant commissioners." He said: "Lunches and buying dinners are becoming an increasingly rarity over the last few years". He added that he "took exception" to evidence given by Bob Quick, the former assistant commissioner, who recently told the inquiry he had spotted him having a drink at a wine bar near Scotland Yard with one of the commissioners. He said there had been a leaving do at Scotland Yard and a number of press officers and a number of journalists had gone across the road to the wine bar. "I rather took exception to Mr Quick's assertion that we were there specifically for one purpose, and haven't we got homes and families to go to earlier in the evening," said Sullivan. He said he knew no journalists who would "pour drink down somebody's throat" for a story and said he found Elizabeth Filkin's report into police and press relations to be "patronising" towards journalists. Filkin had controversially recommended that police should not engage in flirtatious drinking sessions with journalists in a report last year. • Stephen Wright the former crime editor of the Daily Mail, warned the inquiry that diminishing resources were available to cover crime and said if a Fred West "house of horrors" was unearthed today few papers would be able to cover it the way he did when he was a young reporter on the Mail. At the time he spent seven weeks in Gloucestershire knocking on hundreds of doors to find the full story. Lord Justice Leveson took this opportunity to make one of his now regular interventions praising the role of the press. The judge made his name as the prosecuting counsel in the Rosemary West case. He told the inquiry the Sun had got a photo of the step-daughter, Charmaine West, which turned out to be "extremely important" in dating the time of death. "You don't have to convince me that … the press can and do dramatically help the pursuit of criminal justice in this country," he said. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] 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