Mr Hindery recalls that when he was buying a cable system owned by Jack Kent Cooke, another colourful mogul, he was presented with a price based on subscriber numbers that had been heavily inflated by the inclusion of prisoners from a local jail who, though certainly in need of a distraction, were not in a position to subscribe.
Mr Rowe also called on Home Secretary Jack Straw to overhaul the police complaints system and said he should replace the current "pals investigating pals" system with one in which truly independent agencies - such as Customs or the DSS - investigate complaints about the police.