Police given Straw tapes

The Mirror newspaper yesterday handed police officers tape recordings of the alleged meeting between two of its reporters and William Straw, son of the Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

The paper says the tapes prove the politician's son was not trapped by its reporters, but will not publish their contents in case they are used in a criminal trial. Police came to the Mirror offices in Canary Wharf, east London, for the tapes and to take a statement from Dawn Alford, the reporter who met William Straw. The Mirror has said she was prepared to give the tapes to police when she reported to a South London station last week to make a statement and was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. Mirror sources admit the recordings are poor and will need transcription to be used as evidence.