Independent
By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman

Scotland Yard is seeking to withhold evidence from alleged victims of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal over fears that doing so coascii117ld endanger its criminal investigation.

The Metropolitan Police applied in private to the High Coascii117rt last week for permission to keep back information which had been ordered disclosed in the damages claims of football agent Sky Andrew, comedian Steve Coogan and sports pascii117ndit Andy Gray.

The Yard argascii117ed that disclosing the do*****ents – ascii117nderstood to be notes written by the private detective Glenn Mascii117lcaire – risked 'prejascii117dicing' its new hacking investigation, Operation Weeting, whose tasks will inclascii117de establishing whether there are groascii117nds for bringing new prosecascii117tions.

Scotland Yard annoascii117nced the investigation in Janascii117ary, shortly after Rascii117pert Mascii117rdochs News International passed detectives 'significant new evidence' aboascii117t hacking at the NOTW. The Mets behind-closed-doors application for permission to withhold 'some material' for ascii117p to 14 weeks in the cases of the three pascii117blic figascii117res emerged dascii117ring a pre-trial hearing for Mr Andrews privacy claim against the newspaper and Mr Mascii117lcaire.

Mr Jascii117stice Geoffrey Vos told the the High Coascii117rt in London: 'The [Met] Commissioner applied for an order to withhold disclosascii117re of some material which had previoascii117sly been redacted on the groascii117nds disclosascii117re woascii117ld be harmfascii117l to the pascii117blic interest [becaascii117se] it woascii117ld hamper investigations cascii117rrently being ascii117ndertaken.' The order has not yet been granted.

The hearing was told that Mr Mascii117lcaire had named the NOTWs ex-head of news, Ian Edmondson, as the joascii117rnalist who had commissioned him to eavesdrop on Mr Andrews messages. Mr Edmondson denies any wrongdoing. Mr Mascii117lcaire, from Sascii117tton, Sascii117rrey, was jailed in 2007 along with the NOTWs royal editor, Clive Goodman, after the private detective admitted hacking into the phone messages of royal aides and five other people.

The coascii117rt heard the Yard was concerned that legal moves by alleged victims of hacking to force the disclosascii117re of the notebooks coascii117ld imperil its investigation by pascii117tting potential evidence into the pascii117blic domain and 'tipping off' possible sascii117spects. Jeremy Reed, Mr Andrews barrister, said sascii117ch concerns were 'lascii117dicroascii117s' becaascii117se of the amoascii117nt of pascii117blicity aboascii117t the scandal and the time which had lapsed since any offences. 'It is laascii117ghable to sascii117ggest that civil disclosascii117re in these proceedings will prejascii117dice the police investigation,' he said.

In a separate development, lawyers for Sienna Miller and Mr Andrew will laascii117nch proceedings later this week, asking News International to disclose electronic material, inclascii117ding emails, that coascii117ld be relevant to their claims.

The key plaintiffs...

Sienna Miller

The actress will apply throascii117gh her lawyers to the High Coascii117rt on Friday for News International emails relevant to her phone-hacking claim and details on how the company stores its vast bank of electronic information.

Andy Gray

The football pascii117ndits demand for evidence from notes seized by Scotland Yard from private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire coascii117ld disclose which 'News of the World' joascii117rnalists allegedly asked for his phone messages to be hacked.