Killer Journalism

Greater Manchester Police chief Michael Todd, 50, was found dead near the summit of Snowdon last year.

He was an experienced walker and had headed to the mountain with no other purpose than to slip into the sleepy narcosis of hypothermia and die.

Sir Paul Scott-Lee headed an inquiry which was ordered to look into whether Mr Todd's personal life had adversely affected his duties as chief constable of Greater Manchester Police.

When Dr David Kelly shot himself in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, serious questions were asked of the culpability of a Prime Minister whose government had put intolerable strain on this man.

No such questions are being asked of the journalist who called Michael Todd saying "We are going to publish a story that will ruin your career, your marriage and quite possibly your relationship with your children. Do you have any comment to make?"

Michael Todd had committed no crime, but had a private life that could not bear public scrutiny. The 12-page report concluded there was "no evidence that these relationships adversely affected the inquiry was ordered to look into whether Mr Todd's personal life had adversely affected his duties as chief constable of Greater Manchester Police day to day discharge of his duties as chief constable".

Contradictorily, the report did mention that the "poor judgement" that Mr Todd was showing in his "private" life might compromise his security vetting and hence lead to his demotion within the police force.

I haven't run the Greater Manchester Police force, or any other. However, I imagine that talented, hard working, loyal and astute officers are hard to find. I imagine that the Michael Todd was promoted to Chief Constable because he was the best man for the job. Presumably, Manchester, now has to make do with the second best man for the job.

A journalist, an editor and a newspaper proprietor conspired to ruin a man's life and reduce the quality of policing in Manchester. They did so in the name of "the public interest". They are not named in any of the reports that I have read this morning.