Scotland Yard is facing a major scandal over claims that some of its most sensitive units were corrupted by payments from British gangster David Hunt.
The accusations, first published in the Sunday Times (£), come from three police whistleblowers. They claim that Hunt had made payments to “sleepers” inside Scotland Yard, helping him evade justice for three decades. The whistleblowers are all detectives and claim that they attempted to bring down Hunt before the 2012 Olympics, but their progress was blocked by corrupt colleagues within the force, and have set out their claims in a 54-page legal letter sent to Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.
The Saunday Times was finally allowed to print its exposé for Hunt on Sunday after winning a libel case against him in the High Court, with Justice Simon stating:
“I am satisfied that it was reasonable for him (Sunday Times journalist Michael Gillard) to describe the claimant (Hunt) as a violent and dangerous criminal and the head of an organised crime group implicated in murder, drug trafficking and fraud”
