NoW wined and dined Met PR chief during phone probe

The Scotland Yard PR chief who hired a former News of the World deputy editor had at least seven meals with executives from the Sunday tabloid during the phone-hacking probe.

The Met's director of public affairs, Dick Fedorcio, was responsible for employing Neil Wallis, who was arrested last week on suspicion of intercepting voicemail messages.

Documents seen by the Standard reveal the communications chief - who has worked with four Met commissioners - was taken out by NoW journalists on at least seven occasions after a complaint from three royal staff members first triggered a police probe into phone-hacking in November 2005.

On one occasion, in April 2006, Mr Fedorcio and former Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman met then NoW editor Andy Coulson and his deputy, Mr Wallis, for dinner at Soho House private members' club in Covent Garden. At the time, Mr Hayman was in charge of the phone-hacking probe.

Four months later, Met detectives seized the newspaper's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for intercepting voicemails on royal aides' phones. Mr Fedorcio was also present when then deputy commissioner Paul Stephenson dined with Mr Wallis in September 2006.

Questions were being asked about Mr Fedorcio's judgment in hiring Mr Wallis as a PR adviser. The New York Times has alleged Mr Wallis was reporting back to News International while Scotland Yard paid him £1,000 a day.

Chris Bryant MP said: "A judge sitting in a court case on the newspaper would not be dining with its editors and I don't see why members of Scotland Yard should have done either."

Mr Fedorcio has held his post since 1997. Previously, he worked in local government for 23 years before moving briefly into PR consultancy. Peter Smyth, head of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents 30,000 rank-and-file officers, said: "Of course the Met has been damaged, and all this at a time of massive budget cuts in preparation for the Olympics."

Yard sources said it was normal practice for the head of media to accompany senior police officers to meetings with editors and journalists. One said: "You would not expect a senior police officer to engage with someone from News International or any other media group without having their director of communications with them. That's standard, professional practice."

They said similar meetings had taken place with a range of newspaper editors, not just News International.