Police are revisiting a closed investigation into the theft of Morgan McSweeney’s phone after admitting they recorded the wrong address when he reported the crime. Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff told the Metropolitan Police that his phone was stolen in central London on 20 October last year, the Times reported.
The phone is thought to hold messages relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as British ambassador, which could be lost if the phone remains unfound. Earlier on Tuesday, the Met had said they were “too busy” to investigate the snatched phone. The WhatsApp messages of aides and ministers are due to be published in the next tranche of the Mandelson files, and the prime minister is said to be braced for potential further resignations over their contents.
McSweeney resigned in February over his role in Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US. All senior ministers, civil servants and special advisers have been asked to have their phone messages examined, including those no longer in government such as McSweeney and the former communications director Matthew Doyle, as well as the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. But the theft of McSweeney’s work phone means his WhatsApp messages and texts to Mandelson cannot be examined.
Initially, the Met said officers were “too busy” to speak to McSweeney directly. He was given a crime reference number and the case was closed. But on Tuesday evening, the force said that while responding to a recent media inquiry, it became aware that an incorrect address was recorded at the time of the initial call to police and it should have been noted as Belgrave Road in Westminster. Police said the error will now be amended and the force will reassess whether there is available evidence.
A Met spokesperson said: “On Monday 20 October police received a report from a man in his 40s alleging that his phone had been snatched. The incident was recorded as having taken place in Belgrave Street, E1. A review of the allegation, including a consideration of whether there was available CCTV, did not identify any realistic lines of inquiry. The investigation was subsequently closed. In the course of responding to a recent media inquiry, we became aware that the address was entered incorrectly at the time of the initial call and should instead have been recorded as Belgrave Road, Pimlico. Having identified this error, the report will be amended and the assessment of whether there is available evidence revisited.”
