PIs under surveillance

MPs have called for private investigators to be licensed and regulated to deter rogue practitioners.

A report by the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, published last week, revealed between 2,000 and 10,000 private investigators are operating in the UK—the exact number is not known.

The Committee recommended that a “robust” licensing and registration system be set up as soon as possible, called on the government to strengthen the penalties for data offences, and proposed that the Independent Police Complaints Commission take over investigations in cases where police corruption is alleged.

Peter Taylor, a private investigator with Privatedetective.co.uk, says: “Current penalties for Data Protection Act breaches are woefully inadequate, with a typical fine for doing so not likely to be more than around £100. Licensing will pave the way for far stiffer penalties, as rogue operators are faced with the prospect of losing their licensing and the right to trade as a private investigator.”

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court last week unanimously dismissed private investigator Glenn Mulcaire’s appeal over voicemail messages of Nicola Phillips, an employee of public relations consultant Max Clifford.

The ruling, Phillips v Mulcaire [2012] UKSC 28, means Mulcaire may now have to reveal who at the News of the World instructed him to intercept Phillips’ voicemail and to which journalist the information was passed.

Mulcaire had relied on the legal privilege against self-incrimination in civil proceedings.

However, Phillips successfully argued that s 72 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 excluded that privilege.

Mulcaire was imprisoned five years ago along with former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman for conspiring to hack into royal aides’ voicemails.