Hacking probe 'deliberately' ruined

London Metropolitan Police says the News of the World parent company disclosed confidential details of investigations into police corruption to sabotage the inquiry. The force said in a statement that News International (NI) launched a "deliberate campaign to undermine the investigation into alleged payments by corrupt journalists to corrupt police officers and divert attention from elsewhere". "[We are] extremely concerned and disappointed that the continuous release of selected information - that is only known by a small number of people - could have a significant impact on the corruption investigation," the Met added Scotland Yard said the information including the recent leak that fed the London Evening Standard article on the News of the World payments to officers for personal details about the Queen and other members of the royal family comes from the documents presented by NI directors and their lawyers over the past weeks. According to the Met, all sides in the meeting with the NI representatives had agreed to keep the information confidential "so that [the police] could pursue various lines of inquiry, identify those responsible without alerting them and secure best evidence". The data was supposed to be published only in August when the police should provide the alleged hacking practices victims with the information related to their cases.