A FORMER top policeman has hit back at the “lynch mob mentality” of MPs who mauled him over his handling of the phone-hacking investigation.

Ex-Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Andy Hayman was accused of being “like Clouseau rather than Columbo” when he appeared before the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee yesterday.

Mr Hayman, a long-serving officer with Essex Police , was also asked whether he had ever accepted payments from journalists for information or did a deal to curb the News of the World hacking inquiry over fears the tabloid would expose details of his personal life – all of which he denied strenuously.

Mr Hayman, who was in ultimate charge of the original hacking investigation in 2006, responded today by condemning the “appalling display” of the MPs who grilled him and three other former and serving senior Scotland Yard officers.

He said he was treated like a “bit of dirt” and in particular criticised Labour MP Chris Bryant, who was sitting in the audience, for laughing loudly while he gave evidence.

Mr Hayman said: “I’ve been through the mill several times in court, in journalistic interviews. I’ve never been treated like I was yesterday.

“There was cat-calling, there was loud laughter from the wings from Chris Bryant.

“It was an appalling display. The irony really is they don’t like being treated in this way disproportionately and yet they’re prepared to put us through that.

“I think all four of us were up for tough questioning, but not on that sort of basis. And to be accused, as I was, of being a dodgy geezer, which is probably on the basis on my accent, I think that’s a really poor show”

Mr Hayman said the MPs’ level of questioning was below that of a junior detective constable and said it was time for a formal public inquiry into the scandal to be launched.

He said: “Despite trying to actually be helpful to them, all they want to do is score points and most of that is political with this sort of lynch mob mentality.

“Bring on the formal inquiry with a respectable judge, when we can actually get some sense out of this.

“I’m not asking for special treatment, I just ask for a little bit of respect.

“When you go along there, you’re treated like a bit of dirt.”

Mr Hayman joined Essex Police in 1978 and pounded the beat in Leigh as a police constable before moving on to become a detective sergeant in CID.

He became an inspector at Basildon before moving on to serve at police headquarters in Chelmsford.

Mr Hayman lived in Southend and is chairman of governors at St Mary’s School in Kelvedon.

He joined the Metropolitan Police and became assistant commissioner before leaving in December 2007.

MORE LIKE CLOUSEAU THAN COLOMBO...MPs GRILL THE MET

FROM Pink Panther to Alice in Wonderland, the fictional analogies came thick and fast as MPs locked horns with Mr Hayman over phone hacking.

Keith Vaz declared “all this sounds rather more like Clouseau than Columbo” after Andy Hayman, the former assistant commissioner, said claims he was targeted by rogue journalists were “news to me”.

Then Nicola Blackwood MP questioned if she had slipped into a fantasy world resembling Lewis Carroll’s famous creation.

“I feel a bit like I have fallen through the rabbit hole, I have to say,” the Tory MP said, sparking sniggers from the panel during Mr Hayman’s evidence.

Mr Hayman – who led the 2006 probe – joined in the analogy war by insisting his operation “was not a Sunday team turning out in the Premiership – this was the best team I ever had”.

He then raised his voice when Conservative MP Lorraine Fullbrook tried to ask him if he had ever accepted payments from news organisations “Good God, absolutely not. I can’t believe you suggested that,” he replied.

But his apparent amusement turned to anger when the Liberal Democrat MP Julian Huppert interjected: “Lots of people did.”

Mr Hayman hit back, saying: “Come on, hang on, I’m not letting you get away with that. Absolutely no way. I can say to you...”

Assistant commissioner John Yates and Peter Clarke, the Met’s former counter-terrorism chief, were also subjected to barbed comments.

Asked by committee chairman Mr Vaz whether he had offered to stand down from his job, Mr Yates said: “No, I haven’t offered to resign.

“And if you’re suggesting I should resign for what the News of the World has done and my very small part in it, I think that’s probably unfair.”

Labour MP Mr Vaz told Mr Yates at the end of the session the committee found his evidence “unconvincing”.

All three officers spoke of regrets over the affair. But MPs suggested an apology is unlikely to be enough.

Mr Vaz told Mr Yates: “You may well be hearing from us again.

“Please do not regard this as the end of the matter.”