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| Prison officer ‘sold information about Jamie Bulger killer to tabloids for £40k’ | Prison officer ‘sold information about Jamie Bulger killer to tabloids for £40k’ |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A prison officer grossly abused public trust and made almost £40,000 by selling information about Jon Venables, one of the killers of James Bulger, the Old Bailey has heard. | |
| Scott Chapman sold information dozens of times to newspapers including the News of the World, Sun, Daily Mirror, and Daily Star over the course of almost two years, the jury heard. | |
| Chapman, 42, is on trial along with his former partner, Lynn Gaffney, who allegedly received the payments in her bank accounts in exchange for a cut. They are both charged with committing misconduct in public office, which they deny. | Chapman, 42, is on trial along with his former partner, Lynn Gaffney, who allegedly received the payments in her bank accounts in exchange for a cut. They are both charged with committing misconduct in public office, which they deny. |
| Also charged are Thomas Savage, 39, deputy news editor of the Daily Star Sunday, and a former News of the World journalist, who cannot be named for legal reasons. They both face counts of conspiring with Chapman and Gaffney to commit misconduct in public office, which they also deny. | Also charged are Thomas Savage, 39, deputy news editor of the Daily Star Sunday, and a former News of the World journalist, who cannot be named for legal reasons. They both face counts of conspiring with Chapman and Gaffney to commit misconduct in public office, which they also deny. |
| Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, said the pair’s motive was “plain, naked greed”. Analysis of the pair’s finances over the relevant period, during 2010 and 2011, showed they had spent about £15,000 between them on holidays, the jury was told. Gaffney in particular was “living well above her means”, with her expenditure exceeding her normal income by a sum roughly equal to a third of £40,000, Rees said, believed to be her share of the payments. | |
| Venables was 10 when he was jailed in 1993 with his then-friend Robert Thompson for murdering two-year-old James, in one of the most notorious murder cases in modern British history. He was released on licence in 2001 but returned to jail for possessing indecent images of children, serving time in an isolation wing of Woodhill. Court orders restrict all information about Venables’ new identity or past and present locations. However, it permits the naming of the prison where he was held once a year has passed since his release. | Venables was 10 when he was jailed in 1993 with his then-friend Robert Thompson for murdering two-year-old James, in one of the most notorious murder cases in modern British history. He was released on licence in 2001 but returned to jail for possessing indecent images of children, serving time in an isolation wing of Woodhill. Court orders restrict all information about Venables’ new identity or past and present locations. However, it permits the naming of the prison where he was held once a year has passed since his release. |
| Rees said Chapman first sold stories to the Sun, sending a picture of his prison ID to a reporter to prove who he was. The court was read notes from the reporter, who also cannot be named, from chats with Chapman in which the prison officer describes Venables’ time in jail saying he had a personal shower, a 36in TV and sole use of a large former staff room. | |
| A string of subsequent stories provided by Chapman to the Sun and other papers painted a similar picture, the prosecutor said: “The agenda or slant seemed to be, he’s getting it far too easy; it’s far too cushy for him in jail.” | A string of subsequent stories provided by Chapman to the Sun and other papers painted a similar picture, the prosecutor said: “The agenda or slant seemed to be, he’s getting it far too easy; it’s far too cushy for him in jail.” |
| Selling such information, Rees said, undermined confidence in the prisons system, and potentially jeopardised the safety of vulnerable prisoners and made them resentful and suspicious of staff. | Selling such information, Rees said, undermined confidence in the prisons system, and potentially jeopardised the safety of vulnerable prisoners and made them resentful and suspicious of staff. |
| Prison officers are paid by the taxpayer, Rees said, and one who also accepts money from newspapers has abused their employer’s trust. | Prison officers are paid by the taxpayer, Rees said, and one who also accepts money from newspapers has abused their employer’s trust. |
| “He exploits his position. He then has two paymasters, the taxpayers and the newspaper, and his loyalties are split.” | “He exploits his position. He then has two paymasters, the taxpayers and the newspaper, and his loyalties are split.” |
| Rees said Chapman received payments from the Sun, News of the World and Daily Star Sunday, as well as the Daily Star, and the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People titles. Journalists from these other papers were not being prosecuted because it had not proved possible to demonstrate conspiracy in their cases, he said. | Rees said Chapman received payments from the Sun, News of the World and Daily Star Sunday, as well as the Daily Star, and the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People titles. Journalists from these other papers were not being prosecuted because it had not proved possible to demonstrate conspiracy in their cases, he said. |
| When interviewed by police about the money, the court heard, Gaffney said Chapman had asked if he could use her bank account for money he received for “made-up stories”, and despite misgivings she agreed. | When interviewed by police about the money, the court heard, Gaffney said Chapman had asked if he could use her bank account for money he received for “made-up stories”, and despite misgivings she agreed. |
| Chapman declined to answer questions, Rees said. In a statement to police, Savage told them he had paid the money to an anonymous source already in use by the paper, and he had no idea the source was a serving prison officer. | Chapman declined to answer questions, Rees said. In a statement to police, Savage told them he had paid the money to an anonymous source already in use by the paper, and he had no idea the source was a serving prison officer. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |