Top British police chief resigns over phone hacking

LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain’s senior police chief  Paul Stephenson, London’s police commissioner, resigned today over allegations about the police’s handling of phone  hacking investigations.
In a statement he read to TV news channels, Stephenson said  he had no knowledge of the extent of phone hacking allegations  at the now defunct News of the World newspaper, owned by News  International, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp media  empire.
Britain’s police have been criticised over allegations of  accepting money from News of the World and other newspapers and  of not doing enough to investigate phone hacking allegations.
Stephenson said he did not want criticism of his conduct to  detract from ensuring security at the Olympic Games, which are  due to be held in London next year.