Police officer faces jail over offer to a tabloid
A senior detective who offered to sell information to a newspaper yesterday became the first person to be convicted under fresh police investigations into phone hacking and corrupt payments.
Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, 53, was found guilty of misconduct in public office for offering to sell details to the News of the World.
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She admitted contacting the newspaper, claiming she was worried resources meant for fighting terrorism might be wasted on the phone hacking inquiry, which her colleagues saw "as a bit of a jolly".
But jurors at Southwark Crown Court took just three-and-a-half hours to unanimously find her guilty.
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Mr Justice Fulford warned she was likely to face jail, despite being in the process of adopting a three-year-old child.
Casburn was managing the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit when she made the call on September 11, 2010. She told the court she was angered by her colleagues' attitudes to the phone-hacking inquiry and said there was "palpable excitement" over who would get to meet actress Sienna Miller.
Casburn, from Hatfield Peverel in Essex, likened the male-dominated unit to the TV series Life On Mars.
Speaking outside court yesterday, Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Briggs, who is overseeing the inquiries into phone-hacking, corrupt payments and other privacy breaches, said: "It's totally unacceptable for a serving police officer to leak confidential information to journalists for private gain.
"In doing so they let down the public and they let down their hard-working, honest colleagues.
"To act in that way is a gross breach of public trust. I hope the verdict demonstrates our commitment to rooting out this kind of corruption and demonstrates that corruption of this kind will not be tolerated in the Metropolitan Police Service."
Det Ch Supt Briggs said it was not a case of whistle-blowing, despite Casburn's claims that she was concerned about counter-terrorism resources being wasted.
Greg McGill, a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, said: "DCI Casburn has been found guilty of misconduct in public office – not only did she seek to divulge confidential information, she sought to leak details of a case to the very newspaper under investigation.
"This is a very serious offence and the jury has agreed that DCI Casburn's actions were criminal."
She will be sentenced in the week beginning January 28.
Comments
by llamalamb
Friday, January 11 2013, 11:21PM
“It's a shame that the Mercury wasn't able to fully explain what connection this case had to Leicester and why it should be included in the local news. Perhaps they didn't want to embarrass the local police. We must assume that there will be a breaking local scandal to justify its inclusion.
On the other hand it might have been a slow news day and the LM was desperate to fill column inches.”
by Pilby67
Friday, January 11 2013, 4:55PM
“Hope she does get a jail sentence, but I suppose it will be a suspended one and not a proper sentance. She should get at least 5 years inside.”