Norfolk Constabulary have finally issued a statement about their investigation of Climategate:
After a two-year enquiry into the unauthorised publication of e-mails and other data taken unlawfully from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, detectives have confirmed that the release of further documents on the Internet will be considered by the investigation.
This is an extremely unusual and complex case which continues to be played out on the World Wide Web.
The enquiry team has, however, been determined and persistent in following all relevant lines of enquiry, some of which have been international in nature. This adds further levels of complexity and can be time consuming as legislation, policy and practice varies considerably between countries. Such enquires continue and the investigation team awaits the outcome of these.
The officer leading the investigation, Detective Superintendent Julian Gregory who is Head of the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team, said he understood the frustration of those who wanted to understand more about how the lines of enquiry have progressed but says that would not have assisted his team."I understand that people will want to know how the investigation is going but keeping tight-lipped about what were we are doing was a necessary part of our investigative strategy.
"Now two years on, we are reviewing the outcomes of the enquiries so far with a view to making a decision about the future. Yesterday's release of further information has given us fresh lines of enquiry to follow up."
Det Supt Gregory confirmed that his team had been assisted in the early stages by the Metropolitan Police, who had provided valuable advice and guidance in the early stages of the investigation. The team has also received ongoing assistance from the National Domestic Extremism Unit.
Note to Editors
As a consequence of various Freedom of Information requests it is widely known that expenditure on the investigation has been relatively low over the past year. To put this into context it is relevant to note that the figures released relate only to additional expenditure and do not include officer and staff time on the investigation, which is not routinely recorded. There is not necessarily a correlation between expenditure, investigative activity and investigative effectiveness.