Phone-tapping 'may be acceptable'

Sir Hugh Orde said phone-tapping could be used as a last resort

Phone-tap and intercept evidence in the prosecution of international terror suspects is acceptable in some cases, Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said.

Sir Hugh said the majority of chief constables regarded admitting such evidence as "too complicated".

However, he said he hoped a way could be found to introduce it in exceptional cases.

Speaking on the BBC's Inside Politics programme, he said such evidence would need "substantial judicial oversight".

"I do think there are some opportunities, albeit limited, to use evidence to intercept which we can't currently produce in front of the court to bring people to justice," he said.

"It would need a very complicated system of warranty, it would need substantial judicial oversight and it would need to be a last resort."