UK lawmaker: Police mishandled phone hacking case

[February 28, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- A senior British lawmaker says police mishandled their first investigation of phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid.

Simon Hughes told the country's government-commissioned media ethics inquiry Tuesday that if police had taken "robust action" in 2006 when they knew the scale of phone hacking, several victims "might not have suffered as much."

Hughes, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat party -- the junior member of Britain's coalition government, received a 45,000 pound ($71,300) settlement from News of the World's owner News International earlier this month.

He is among dozens of victims who have received damages over allegations the now defunct tabloid routinely intercepted voice mails of those in the public eye.

[Associated Press]

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