John Yates

John Yates (born 17 February 1959

Background Yates was born in Liverpool "to a family of doctors". Yates was educated at Marlborough College, and went on to study at King's College London

As leader of the MPS's Special Inquiry Squad (often called the "Celebrity Squad"), He headed the investigation of Lord Archer for perjury, the fraud investigation involving TV game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? and the bringing of rape charges against John Leslie."

Assistant Commissioner (2006–2011) Yates' promotion to Assistant Commissioner was confirmed by the Metropolitan Police Authority on 18 December 2006; he had previously held the position on a temporary basis. A press release issued by the Metropolitan Police Authority stated that Yates would be a member of the MPS management board: "John Yates will help formulate the strategic direction of the largest police service in the country and will manage a major business area".

Cash for peerages inquiry

As Deputy Assistant Commissioner, then acting Assistant Commissioner, Yates headed the team of detectives investigating the allegations that life peerages were awarded in return for loans, and it was a member of his team who interviewed the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair in December 2006. Yates's team handed its main file on the cash for peerages inquiry to the Crown Prosecution Service on Friday 20 April 2007. On 20 July 2007, the CPS announced that no charges would be brought as a result of the investigation for lack of direct evidence of an agreement that would have violated the law forbidding the sale of honours.

Phone hacking scandal

In mid-2009, Yates conducted a review of the 2006 Police inquiry into the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal, which had led to the imprisonment of two men in January 2007. In light of the new allegations in The Guardian, in July 2009 the Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson asked Assistant Commissioner Yates to review the original investigation for new evidence. In one 8-hour meeting, Yates reviewed the investigation but did not take any further action. In a later public statement, and in a July 2009 appearance at the Home Affairs Select Committee, he announced of the initial investigation that he "found it to be satisfactory". Yates then passed his findings back to the Commissioner and agreed with lawyers and the head of the Crown Prosecution Service Keir Starmer that no further action need be taken, and the case was not reopened. Yates' review did not include examination of possible leads from the thousands of pages of the available evidence seized in raids between 1999 and 2006. On 9 July 2009, Yates issued a statement. In September 2009, Yates reported his conclusions to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee saying, "There remain now insufficient grounds or evidence to arrest or interview anyone else and... no additional evidence has come to light."

In 2011, dramatic developments in the scandal led to the closure of the News of the World newspaper, Yates faced allegations of wrongdoing, including from MP Chris Bryant, who called for his resignation saying "a very dirty smell" surrounded the police's conduct in the matter. The main accusations relate to having misled Parliament, having repeatedly reported that there was evidence of only around 10–12 cases, but it later emerged that police had evidence of "a vast number" of victims. Yates later said that he believed that he should refer only to cases where voicemail messages had been shown to have been intercepted prior to them being heard by the intended recipient. He also claimed to have ensured that four major mobile phone companies had informed around 120 people that their messages had been hacked, a claim disputed by the companies involved, two of which wrote to Scotland Yard stating that it was incorrect. Other criticisms related to failures to inform individuals that there was evidence their phone had been hacked, the perceived lack of thoroughness of the investigation and failure to take adequate action against officers who were known to have illegally accepted bribes.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph published on 9 July 2011, Yates expressed "extreme regret" for the failings in the initial phone hacking inquiry but dismissed any suggestion of corruption or improper relationships on his part. On 18 July 2011, Yates announced his resignation from the Metropolitan Police. The Met said of his resignation, "Assistant Commissioner John Yates has this afternoon indicated his intention to resign to the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority. His resignation was accepted".

In May 2012, a report into phone hacking by a House of Commons select committee found that Yates, along with director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer, was culpable for failing to properly investigate evidence when hacking was first brought to his attention in 2006–2007. The report concluded, "The police at that time had no interest or willingness to uncover the full extent of the phone-hacking which had taken place".

Libel case In 2012, Yates sued his former employer the Metropolitan Police and Bernard Hogan-Howe for distribution of a memorandum containing false and defamatory allegations. Lawyers Carter-Ruck reported that Yates was successful in his action and the defendants paid his legal fees and donated an undisclosed sum to a police charity of his choice.

Adviser to Bahrain

After findings that the security forces of Bahrain used excessive force, torture and summary justice to crush a popular protest movement, Yates was appointed to oversee reform of the police force.

Subsequent to his appointment, Human Rights Watch criticised Bahrain's authorities for failing to adopt "critical recommendations" made by an independent commission that looked into extensive human rights violations during the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011. Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said Bahrain's authorities had failed to investigate the involvement of high-ranking officials in "rampant torture or unlawful killings".

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph Yates said kettling "would work really well around here" in the face of "wanton damage" and "vandalism".

Prior to the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, Yates condemned what he said were "criminals" attacking unarmed police. He told Channel 4 News, "Bahrain is a place, a beautiful place. But there are some problems in some of the villages. There are some daily skirmishes, very dangerous skirmishes between what can only be described as criminals who are throwing petrol bombs at police and otherwise attacking the police.... What we see in the villages is nothing like peaceful protest. These are attacks on police officers, unarmed police officers".

Yates claimed that reporting of events presented a "distorted picture" and that he felt "completely safe. Indeed, safer than I have often felt in London".

The day after his comments, a child was admitted to intensive care after being shot in the chest by anti-riot police firing live ammunition and tear gas during a funeral procession for an activist killed the previous month.

Strong criticism has been directed at Yates for comments he has made on policing in Bahrain. New Statesman senior editor Mehdi Hasan branded the former Met chief a "disgrace", and Bahrani pro-democracy activist Ali Mushaima called for Yates to leave the country: "John Yates is not welcome in Bahrain". and the arrests of Japanese and Western journalists (their Bahraini associates were also badly beaten), the day after the race, Yates had an article in The Daily Telegraph in which he claimed that Bahrain was "bewildered by the world's hostility" and said the country "is not Syria". He added, "The abiding image I have of the Grand Prix last weekend was of thousands of people enjoying themselves at the post‑event parties".

A week later, Human Rights Watch released another report on Bahrain:A few weeks later, the Bahraini government was forced to deny independent autopsy evidence that Yousef Mowali, a 23-year-old man with mental health problems, had been electrocuted and otherwise tortured by the police until he lost consciousness; Mowali was then dumped in water while still unconscious and drowned.