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Operation Elveden: former policeman jailed for selling information to Sun Operation Elveden: ex-policeman and prison officer jailed for Sun leaks
(about 1 hour later)
A former policeman has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to selling information to the Sun relating to stories about Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and the mother of ex-England football captain John Terry. A former policeman and an ex-prison officer have received prison sentences at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to selling information to the Sun.
Alan Tierney, an ex-Surrey police constable, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office at the Old Bailey earlier this month. Alan Tierney, an ex-Surrey police constable, was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 months in prison after admitting to selling details of the separate arrests of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and the mother of ex-England football captain John Terry to the Sun.
On Wednesday he was sentenced to 10 months in prison after admitting to selling details of the separate arrests of Wood and Terry's mother to the Sun. Richard Trunkfield, a former operational support officer at high security Woodhill prison near Milton Keynes, received a 16-month prison sentence for passing on details about one of James Bulger's killers, Jon Venables.
Both Tierney and Trunkfield pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office at the Old Bailey earlier this month.
Their guilty pleas are the first arising from the Metropolitan police's Operation Elveden investigation into alleged illegal newsgathering, in which police have arrested 107 people in two years, most of whom are journalists.
Mr Justice Fulford, handing down the sentences at the Old Bailey, said of both Trunkfield and Tierney: "This country has long prided itself in the integrity of its public officials and these cynical acts of betrayal of these high standards have a profoundly corrosive effect."
Tierney admitted one count of misconduct in public office between 26 March and 3 April 2009, and a second between 2 and 7 December 2009.Tierney admitted one count of misconduct in public office between 26 March and 3 April 2009, and a second between 2 and 7 December 2009.
Prosecutors previously said he was paid a total of £1,750 for the leaks, including payment for a story about the arrest of Wood, who accepted a formal police caution on suspicion of beating up his Russian partner, Ekaterina Ivanova.Prosecutors previously said he was paid a total of £1,750 for the leaks, including payment for a story about the arrest of Wood, who accepted a formal police caution on suspicion of beating up his Russian partner, Ekaterina Ivanova.
The other case involved the leak of details about Sue Terry and Sue Poole, the mother and mother-in-law of John Terry, who were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Surrey. They both accepted cautions.The other case involved the leak of details about Sue Terry and Sue Poole, the mother and mother-in-law of John Terry, who were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Surrey. They both accepted cautions.
Tierney was arrested and charged as part of Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden inquiry into alleged illegal payments by journalists to police and other public officials. Trunkfield received £3,350 from the Sun for a number of stories about Venables in 2010.
Fulford said the public expected police to "behave scrupulousy, fairly and with complete integrity with any information that comes into its possession," and Tierney had jeopardised a potential criminal trial after handing over the name and address of a witness to an suspected assault by Wood of his then girlfriend, Ivanova.
"This was a disgraceful way for a police officer to act. The most serious of these two offences is that in relation to count two is that the defendant [Wood] provided the name and, most significantly, the address of the witness and the witness's wife," said Fulford, warning that it could have interfered with the course of justice.
He told the court that this act could have resulted in the press camping outside the witness's home and with the witness deciding not to participate in a potential trial.
Mark Bryant-Heron, counsel for the crown, told the Old Bailey that Tierney was one of the officers who arrived on the scene when Terry and Poole were arrested and knew the incident was newsworthy because the two women involved were the mother and mother-in-law of Terry.
Bill Emlyn Jones, representing Tierney, told the court he was "an effective and well-regarded police officer" who was commended five times during his 11 years as a constable.
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