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FILE -- London's Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates stands outside the force's headquarters at New Scotland Yard in London, in this July 9 2009 file photo. Yates resigned Monday July 18, 2011, amid the firestorm surrounding the phone ha Lewis Whyld-pa, file) UNITED KINGDOM OUT: NO SALES: NO ARCHIVE:, Associated Press
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FILE -- London's Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates giving evidence to a House of Commons Home Affairs Committee regarding recent phone hacking allegations, in this July 12, 2011 file photo. Yates resigned Monday July 18, 2011, amid the pa, file) UNITED KINGDOM OUT: NO SALES: NO ARCHIVE:, Associated Press
By Associated Press

LONDON — Senior police official John Yates was long seen as thoroughly reliable and was given the most sensitive cases to handle.

The assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police Service resigned Monday amid questions about why he didn't reopen inquiries into eavesdropping on voice mail messages by tabloid newspaper, the News of the World.

Once regarded as a "safe pair of hands," the 52-year-old endured prolonged, hostile questions last week from a parliamentary committee over his one-day review in 2009 which concluded that there was no evidence to justify a further investigation.

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Yates is only the latest casualty of the spiraling scandal. His boss resigned Sunday, and 10 people have been arrested.

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