Is this Armageddon for Murdoch and NewsCorp?

News Corp publishing arm lost $2.1bn


Rupert Murdoch’s publishing operations would have lost $2.08bn (£1.3bn) as a standalone company last year, News Corporation said on Friday, as it revealed the full extent of the financial troubles at its newspaper and books businesses.








Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is to separate its publishing and entertainment assets into two independent, publicly traded companies. Photo: Getty Images






By Katherine Rushton, Media, Telecoms and Technology Editor

2:54PM GMT 21 Dec 2012


20 Comments




News Corp, which plans to split into two at the turn of the year, disclosed the losses as it filed the paperwork necessary to divide its troubled publishing arm from its profitable film and television operation.


The publishing business, which will keep the News Corp name, was hit by $2.8bn of “impairment and restructuring” write-downs, following the phone hacking scandal at its British newspaper arm, News International, last year. In addition to NI, publisher of The Times and The Sun, the “new News Corp” will include America’s Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones newsire, book publisher HarperCollins and News Corp’s education arm.


Its poor performance continued into the current financial year, when the publishing company would have lost $92m as a standalone division, compared to $38m profit the previous year. That was also largely because of a restructuring charge, and legal fees relating to the hacking scandal.


However, write-downs were not the only issue plunging Mr Murdoch’s publishing business into the red. Profits across the entire News Corp group fell to $782m from $1.2bn in the year to 30 June, led by a 19pc drop in earnings before interest, tax and depreciation at the newspaper and books business.


Robert Thomson, who will be chief executive of the standalone publishing company, will earn up to $4m if he manages to return the company to health. He will receive a $2m base salary and a potential bonus of the same amount. However, Mr Thomson, who was promoted from managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, beating News International chief Tom Mockridge to the coveted post, will not have the same dire balance sheet to contend with.



Related Articles

• 
  News Corp's top UK executive resigns
  03 Dec 2012
  
• 
  Rupert Murdoch to split News Corp early
  02 Dec 2012
  
• 
  Rupert Murdoch to name Thomson head of publishing division
  01 Dec 2012
  
• 
  Murdoch to name Thomson head of publishing
  01 Dec 2012
  
• 
  Murdoch could face fines over stories
  30 Nov 2012
  
• 
  Rupert Murdoch sells $10m of News Corp shares
  22 Nov 2012
  

It will begin with around $1bn in cash on its balance sheet and little debt, News Corp’s filings revealed. In a surprise move it will also retain Fox Sport Australia, which could prove a useful source of cash in teh future

News Corp's head of demerged newspaper arm may take home £2.5m


• Robert Thomson will also receive £1.2m bonus as company hives off publishing division from TV and film business
• If 'new News Corporation' was running as standalone entity it would have reported net loss of £2.07bn in year to 30 June

• 
  

• 
  Mark Sweney
  
• The Guardian, Friday 21 December 2012 13.38 GMT
  

Robert Thomson will head the newly demerged newspaper and book publishing business of News Corp. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Robert Thomson will be paid potentially well over $4m (£2.5m) a year in salary, bonus and share awards for running the new demerged News Corporation newspaper and book publishing business.

If the newspaper and publishing business, which the company calls "new News Corporation", was running as a standalone entity it would have reported a net loss of £2.07bn in the year to 30 June, according to a filing with US financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Rupert Murdoch will receive a "modest" increase to his $30m (£18.5m) remuneration for taking on the role of executive chairman of the stand alone publishing company.

Thomson, who earlier this month was named as chief executive of the new publicly-listed spin-off of News Corp's publishing and Australian TV businesses, will receive an annual base salary of $2m.

In addition, the 51-year old, a trusted Murdoch lieutenant who is editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, will receive an annual performance-based bonus with a target of $2m.

From 2014, he will also receive an annual grant of performance-based shares that will vest every three years, although the target amount has not yet been set by News Corp's compensation committee.

"[News Corporation] is continuing to negotiate with Mr Thomson the remaining terms of his employment agreement governing his compensation at and after the distribution [of shares to form the new News Corporation], which will be further described by amendment to this information statement," said News Corp in a filing to US financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Committee on Friday giving details about the new company.

Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp, will take the role of executive chairman at the new company when it is hived-off from the Fox film and TV businesses in the US next year. The film and TV business is to be called Fox.

However, the SEC filing reveals that Murdoch will gain a "modest increase" in his current pay, which totalled just over $30m in the year to the end of June.

"Prior to the distribution [of shares in the new company], [News Corporation's] compensation committee will determine his compensation for his role as our executive chairman and his compensation for his role as chief executive of parent," the company said. "We expect that his overall compensation for both roles will increase modestly compared to his current total compensation as chairman and chief executive officer of [News Corporation] for the fiscal year ended 2012."

The new company will own assets including the Times, Sunday Times, Sun, Wall Street Journal, book publisher HarperCollins and News Corp's newspapers, sports programming and pay-TV businesses in Australia.

Based on an analysis of the performance of the assets to be hived off in the year to the end of June, the new News Corp will have annualised revenues of $8.65bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $782m.

"The filing of the Form 10 is another important step forward in the evolution of our company and in the establishment of two independent global leaders in Fox Group and the new News Corporation," the company said in its SEC filing. "Today, we are pleased to provide further details on the new News Corporation – a global diversified media and information services company uniquely positioned to take advantage of exciting growth opportunities and new business models."

Bedi Singh, News Corp chief financial officer, will receive a base salary of "not less" than $1.1m and a performance-based annual bonus of "no less than $1m". His three-year performance-based award of shares will be worth "no less" than $1m. He also receives a monthly car allowance of $1,200.

News Corp's general counsel, Gerson Zweifach, will receive no extra compensation from the new News Corporation for providing services.

The SEC filing also makes a note of the risks the new business faces from the ongoing fallout from the News of the World phone-hacking saga, which the company admits could "damage our reputation" and "adversely affect... [our] financial condition".

"We are not able to predict the ultimate outcome or cost of the investigations," News Corp said in the filing. "Violations of law may result in civil, administrative or criminal fines or penalties and other costs. These proceedings and any adverse resolution thereof could damage our reputation, impair our ability to conduct our business and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition."

The new News Corporation also intends to adopt a code of ethics for senior executives "to promote further ethical and responsible decison-making".

"Our board of directors intends to establish a Code of Ethics for the chief executive officer and senior financial officers that will be incorporated by reference into the standards of business conduct," the company said.

The new News Corporation will divide itself into four operating divisions: news and information services, digital real estate services, book publishing and "other", which is where considerable general overheads charges and the fledgling education business Amplify sit.

News and information services is the division that is home to assets including the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Dow Jones, Factiva, The Australian newspaper and the Sun, Times and Sunday Times and the New York Post.

According to News Corp's estimates the news and information division had revenues of $7bn and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $939m in the year to the end of June.

However, it should be noted that the "other" division, which includes general overheads costs across the whole business, had a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $372m for the same period.

A snapshot of the performance of the news and information services division in the three months to the end of September shows it made $1.66bn in revenues with 57% of that coming from advertising and 36% from circulation and subscription income.

The division, which made $126m in ebitda for the period, accounted for 78% of new News Corp's total revenues of $2.13bn for the three-month period.

For the three-month period new News Corporation relied on advertising for 48% of that $2.13bn, with 28.5% coming from circulation and subscription income. If the business had been running as a standalone entity it would have had a net loss of $92m.

•

Elisabeth Murdoch, Patron, Mother of Rupert, Dies at 103


By Nichola Saminather - Dec 6, 2012 4:51 AM GMT

• 
  
• 
  
  Q
  

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, one of Australia’s leading philanthropists and the mother of News Corp. (NWSA) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch, has died. She was 103.





Enlarge image

Elisabeth Murdoch, Philanthropist Mother of Rupert




Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch attends an Australia Day reception in Melbourne on Jan. 21, 2010.

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch attends an Australia Day reception in Melbourne on Jan. 21, 2010. Photographer: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

She died yesterday at her home near Melbourne, according to a statement from News Corp. No cause was given. She had suffered a fall there in September, the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp., reported.

“Dame Elisabeth was absolutely a remarkable person,” Lachlan Murdoch, her grandson and chairman of Australian broadcaster Ten Network Holdings Ltd. (TEN), said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Sydney today. She was “the closest person to a saint, in my view. I think she lived a beautiful life and a very meaningful life and she passed away peacefully.”

Murdoch devoted her life to numerous causes, including Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital and the National Gallery of Victoria. She supported more than 110 charities well past the age of 90.

“My life’s been so full,” she was quoted as saying in Neil Chenoweth’s 2001 book about her son, “Virtual Murdoch.” “I think that’s been fortunate, but that’s something to do with one’s nature. I don’t waste time.”

Wool Trade


Elisabeth Joy Greene was born on Feb. 8, 1909, in Melbourne. She grew up in an affluent Anglo-Irish family with ties to the British Empire’s wool trade. At a dinner dance as an 18-year-old debutante, she met war correspondent Keith Murdoch, 42, the editor of Melbourne’s influential newspaper The Herald.

Defying social convention, she married the older man a year later. “My marriage really did open up so many other opportunities,” she said in the 1994 biography, “Elisabeth Murdoch: Two Lives,” by John Monks.

As a wedding gift, Keith Murdoch bought her Cruden Farm, a 90-acre estate near Melbourne, where Elisabeth resided. At Cruden and the family’s city mansion, she entertained her husband’s business partners, prime ministers, artists, musicians and international visitors.

She also accompanied him on trips to the U.S. and Europe, meeting Sir Winston Churchill and Pope Pius XII.

Elisabeth Murdoch had a strong sense of moral values, manners, obligation and duty, according to Monks. She taught her four children not to take anything for granted.

Dog Paddle


On a Pacific crossing when Rupert was young, she threw the boy into the deep end of the ship’s swimming pool and wouldn’t let anyone rescue him, forcing him to dog paddle to safety to learn to swim, according to the Chenoweth biography.

“We have lost the most wonderful mother but we are all grateful to have had her love and wisdom for so many years,” Rupert Murdoch said in a statement on behalf of the extended family. “Throughout her life, our mother demonstrated the very best qualities of true public service.”

She was both proud and “slightly embarrassed” of her son’s business success. Rupert, who is 81 and worth $10.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, inherited an Adelaide newspaper after Keith’s death in 1952 and built up a global media empire, including Britain’s Sun newspaper, the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal and Fox television in the U.S.

New York-based News Corp. has tried to move past the controversy sparked by the exposure of illegal reporting tactics and alleged cover-up that led to arrests of 80 people, including Rebekah Brooks, the former top executive of the company’s U.K. publisher, and the demise of the U.K. tabloid News of the World.

‘Useful Citizens’


“What is more important to me is that my family are caring and useful citizens,” Murdoch said in a 2005 interview on state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp. “To my mind, that’s how you measure their success.”

Using her wealth and time to support benevolent causes earned her widespread respect in Australia.

Elisabeth Murdoch was asked to join the Royal Children’s Hospital’s management committee in 1933 and was its president from 1954 to 1965. In 1986, she helped establish the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, which looks into the prevention and treatment of infant health problems.

“Australia has lost an amazing Australian woman,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a statement today. “Her example of kindness, humility and grace was constant. She was not only generous, she led others to generosity.”

Good Causes


Murdoch was also the first female trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria and a fellow of the Australian chapter of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts. She was a patron of the Deafness Foundation of Victoria and the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, which has woven tapestries for Parliament House in Canberra and the Sydney Opera House.

“Dame Elisabeth was an inspiration to generations of Australians and a friend and supporter of many good causes in the community,” Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said in an e-mailed statement. “Her generous philanthropy will stand as one of her enduring legacies.”

Highest Merit


Murdoch was honored as a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation’s highest merit, for her work as a patron of the arts. She also received an honorary degree of doctor of laws at University of Melbourne for her public service, and was named Victorian of the Year in 2005. Queen Elizabeth II in 1963 made her Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her work with the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“I’d like to feel that I made a difference to a lot of people’s lives,” Murdoch said in the Australian Broadcasting Corp. interview.

She and Keith had four children: Rupert, Anne Kantor, Janet Calvert-Jones and Helen Handbury, who died in 2004, according to News Corp. She is survived by 77 direct descendants including 50 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren. Her grandchildren include James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., and her namesake, who founded London- based television production company Shine Group.

David Cameron brushes off Rebekah Brooks encounter at party


The Prime Minister insists that meeting Rebekah Brooks at a pre-Christmas party was "not a big deal, what really matters is the country and the decisions that are taken."















560
315
TelegraphPlayer_9780826












3:05PM GMT 04 Jan 2013




Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, David Cameron sought to play down the significance of his meeting with Rebekah Brooks at a pre-Christmas party in his Chipping Norton constituency.


He said: “My wife’s cousin had a party and I went and it is not a big deal, what really matters is the country and the decisions that are taken.


"I am very focused on the job I do, it is a hugely fulfilling job and an enormous opportunity and a great honour to have this job.


“But it is a difficult time for Britain and I try and do this job in a way that I am levelling with people about the difficulties we face and not pretending it is easy when it isn’t.


Mrs Brooks has been charged over alleged payments to police and public officials, including a count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2012.



Related Articles

• 
  PM: intense chat with Brooks was 'no big deal'
  04 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Cameron questions "moral scruples" of Amazon and Starbucks over tax
  
• 
  
• 
  

She has also been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She has said she is innocent.

During the Leveson inquiry Cameron was forced to reveal the scale of his exchanges with Brooks during her period as editor of News International newspapers.

It was reported last year that Mrs Brooks received a compensation package worth £10.8m according to a public filing and a person familiar with the matter

1. Home»
   
2. News»
   
3. UK News»
   
4. Leveson Inquiry
   
5. 
   
6. 
   

1. 
   David Cameron says his intense chat with Rebekah Brooks at pre-Christmas Astor party was 'no big deal'
   

David Cameron has described his recent private conversation with Rebekah Brooks at a party in his Oxfordshire constituency as “not a big deal”.






















By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent

10:17AM GMT 04 Jan 2013





The Prime minister and the former News International chief executive shared what was described as an “intense” conversation during the party near his constituency home.


The two are long time friends. Mr Cameron famously had to admit he had been riding on a retired police horse with Mrs Brooks' husband Charlie, a columnist for The Daily Telegraph.


The horse, called Raisa came to symbolise the closeness of the media, police and politicians at the time of the phone hacking scandal, had been lent to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police commissioner at the time.


The conversation, described as intense by a surprised eyewitness, took place at a party thrown by Tom Astor, great-grandson of the American heiress Nancy Astor, at Merriscourt Farm in Chipping Norton in Mr Cameron’s constituency on December 15.


_{Prime Minister David Cameron with Rebekah Brooks in 2009 Photo: Dafydd Jones}




The meeting, which was confirmed by Downing St, led some to question his judgment in being seen in conversation with Mrs Brooks as he faces politically fraught decisions on how to regulate the media in the wake of the Leveson inquiry.

Interviewed this morning on BBC Radio Five Live, Mr Cameron dismissed the recent exposure of him talking to Rebecca Brookes at a party in his constituency.

He said: “My wife’s cousin had a party and I went and it is not a big deal, what really matters is the country and the decisions that are taken.

"I am very focused on the job I do, it is a hugely fulfilling job and an enormous opportunity and a great honour to have this job.

“But it is a difficult time for Britain and I try and do this job in a way that I am levelling with people about the difficulties we face and not pretending it is easy when it isn’t.

“We do face difficult years, people have seen that when their wage packets haven't been going up, the challenges in terms of cost of living.

“I think there are important problems and challenges for this country to get on and get over, I think this government is helping them to do that.”

Mrs Brooks has been charged over alleged payments to police and public officials, including a count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2012.

She has also been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. She has said she is innocent.

During the Leveson inquiry Cameron was forced to reveal the scale of his exchanges with Brooks during her period as editor of News International newspapers.

It was reported last year that Mrs Brooks received a compensation package worth £10.8m according to a public filing and a person familiar with the matter.

Share 92

Facebook 11

Twitter 80

Email

LinkedIn

Sun Reporter Charged With Corruption


The newspaper's defence editor allegedly paid a former constable for information about the death of a 14-year-old girl.


2:07pm UK, Tuesday 22 January 2013

The paper's defence editor faces charges

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A Sun journalist and a former police officer have been charged over alleged corrupt payments, prosecutors have said.
  
  Ex-Metropolitan Police constable Paul Flattley and The Sun's defence editor Virginia Wheeler are accused of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
  
  It is alleged that Flattley was paid at least £4,000 in cheques and £2,450 in cash in exchange for information, including about the death of a 14-year-old girl.
  
  The payments allegedly occurred between May 2008 and September 2011.
  
  Alison Levitt QC, adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: "The information provided included information about the tragic death of a 14-year-old girl, as well as details about both suspects and victims of accidents, incidents and crimes.
  
  "This included, but was not limited to, information about high-profile individuals and those associated with them."
  
  The charges have been brought as a result of Operation Elveden, Scotland Yard's inquiry into alleged corrupt payments to public officials.
  
  So far, 56 people have been arrested as part of the inquiry, six have been charged, and two - a retired police officer and a former journalist - have been told they will face no further action.
  
  Those charged include former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, Sun chief reporter John Kay and Ministry of Defence employee Bettina Jordan-Barber.
  Both Coulson and Brooks have been charged in Operation Elveden
  It is alleged that Brooks and Kay conspired to pay Jordan-Barber around £100,000 for information.
  
  David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson and former News Of The World royal correspondent Clive Goodman also face charges.
  
  They are accused of conspiracy to pay for information including a royal phone directory known as the 'Green Book'.
  
  It contained contact details for the Royal family and members of their households.
  
  Coulson and Goodman face two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office - one between August 2002 and January 2003, and the other between January and June 2005.
  
  All five are due to appear at the Old Bailey for a plea hearing on March 8.
  
  In a separate case, Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn was found guilty of misconduct in public office earlier this month for offering to sell information to the News of the World.
  
  She will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on February 1.
  
• Related Stories:
  
• Police Payments Probe: Three Men Arrested
  
• Andy Coulson And Rebekah Brooks In Court
  

News Corp. Sun Journalist to Be Charged in U.K. Bribery Case


By Erik Larson - Jan 22, 2013 5:39 PM GMT

• 
  

U.K. police probing a bribery scandal at News Corp. (NWSA)’s Sun tabloid, Britain’s best-selling daily newspaper, charged a journalist and a former London police officer with conspiring to commit misconduct in public office.

Virginia Wheeler, the title’s crime editor, paid ex-Metropolitan Police Service constable Paul Flattley for secret information about murder victims and suspects over a four-year period, the Crown Prosecution Service said today.

“The information provided included information about the tragic death of a 15-year-old girl, as well as details about both suspects and victims of accidents, incidents and crimes,”Alison Levitt, the agency’s lead legal adviser, said in a statement about the so-called charging decision.

Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive officer of the U.K. unit, and Andy Coulson, who edited its News of the World tabloid, were charged last year in the same bribery probe. The pair has also been charged in a parallel investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World, which News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch closed in 2011 to quell public anger over the scandal.

Wheeler, 33, paid Flattley, 30, at least 6,450 pounds ($10,200) for confidential information between 2008 and 2011, the Metropolitan Police said in a separate statement. Flattley was charged today and released on bail, while Wheeler was ordered to appear in court on Feb. 11 to face the charge.

Emily Coen, a spokeswoman at News Corp.’s News International unit in London, declined to comment on the CPS decision.

56 Arrests


Another Sun journalist and two more police officers were detained on Jan. 17, for a total of 56 arrests since the investigation started. The probe has snared reporters, editors, prison workers, a Defence Ministry employee and a terrorism detective, among others.

Police officers issue formal charges based on CPS decisions.

Prosecutors allege Brooks paid 100,000 pounds to a defense ministry employee, while Coulson is accused of swapping cash for a palace phone directory for the royal family and their staff. Two other journalists and the defense employee were also charged over claims they conspired with Brooks and Coulson.

April Casburn, a London police detective who specialized in counter-terrorism, became the first person to face prison in the bribery probe after a London jury found her guilty of misconduct on Jan. 10.

Detective Jailed For Trying To Leak To NOTW


The first person to be convicted under the fresh investigations into corruption and phone hacking has been jailed for 15 months.


1:51pm UK, Friday 01 February 2013

The judge said Casburn's offence could not be described as whistle-blowing

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

A senior police officer has been jailed for 15 months for trying to sell information to the News Of The World.

Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn, 53, was found guilty last month of misconduct in public office for offering the newspaper confidential information in return for money.

In sentencing Casburn at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Fulford described her crime as "a corrupt attempt to make money out of sensitive and potentially very damaging information".

A year before she was arrested, Casburn, of Hatfield Peverel, Essex, had started the process of adopting a child.

The judge said had that not been for the adopted child he would have sentenced her to three years.

He said he was particularly concerned about Casburn's child, saying that her absence while she is in prison could cause lifelong damage.

Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The judge said it was such a serious offence that she did have to go to jail.

"It's prison for a police officer and, as the judge acknowledged, police officers find life inside very difficult, and there's no reason to think that she won't find it difficult."

The judge also said Casburn's offence could not be described as whistle-blowing.

"If the News of the World had accepted her offer, it's clear, in my view, that Ms Casburn would have taken the money and, as a result, she posed a significant threat to the integrity of this important police investigation," the judge said.

"Activity of this kind is deeply damaging to the administration of criminal justice in this country.

"It corrodes the public's faith in the police force, it can lead to the acquittal or the failure by the authorities to prosecute individuals who have committed offences whether they are serious or otherwise.

"We are entitled to expect the very highest standards of probity from our police officers, particularly those at a senior level.

"It is, in my judgment, a very serious matter indeed when men or women who have all the benefits, privileges and responsibilities of public office use their position for corrupt purposes."
News Of The World was closed in 2011
Casburn, who worked in the counter-terrorism unit, called the NOTW news desk on September 11, 2010, and spoke to journalist Tim Wood about the fresh investigation into phone hacking.

She claimed she contacted the tabloid because she was concerned about counter-terror resources being wasted on the phone-hacking inquiry, which her colleagues saw as "a bit of a jolly".

The detective denied asking for money but Mr Wood had made a note that she "wanted to sell inside information".

Mr Justice Fulford said: "It seems to me Mr Wood was a reliable, honest and disinterested witness.

"He took time and trouble during the defendant's call to find out exactly what Miss Casburn was saying, questioning the defendant in detail on her account in order to make an accurate note for his superiors at the News of the World which he wrote up in detail immediately afterwards.

"He had absolutely no reason to lie and every cause to be cautious given the risk that the newspaper was to be the victim of a sting, as he suspected."

During her trial at Southwark Crown Court last month, Casburn likened the male-dominated counter-terrorism unit to the TV series Life On Mars.

She was not given a desk for several months, despite more junior colleagues having them, jurors were told.

But the judge rejected this as an explanation for her behaviour.

He said: "It seems to me this is a straightforward but troubling case of corruption.

"I decline to accept that she had significant difficulties working with her male colleagues in the senior ranks of the counter-terrorism unit, which in part she said led her to act as she did."

NOTW was closed in 2011 because of the phone hacking scandal.

===================================

What a greedy Woman, she had a well paid job and presumably could have retired with a good Pension .!!

Cherie Blair and James Nesbitt among 130 phone-hacking victims to settle claims with NI


Cherie Blair is one of 130 victims of phone-hacking who has accepted damages from News International in the latest batch of civil claims to be settled, it has emerged.








Cherie Blair has settled her hacking claim against News International Photo: Eddie Mulholland






By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter

9:04PM GMT 09 Jan 2013





The actor James Nesbitt, currently appearing in the film version of The Hobbit, David Beckham's father Ted and the actor Tamsin Outhwaite have also settled claims arising from hacking by the News of the World, which closed in 2011.


Another 37 claims are still being thrashed out by lawyers, many of which are expected to be settled without the need for trials. Other victims have been given payouts after approaching NI directly through a compensation scheme it set up in the wake of the newspaper's closure.


However, with more than 1,000 "likely" victims identified by police and up to 5,000 more possible victims contained in the notebooks of Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective who hacked phones for the newspaper, NI may still have some way to go before the hacking cases are exhausted.


The latest round of payouts, many of which were agreed in the weeks before Christmas, is likely to cost the company millions of pounds, with typical payments ranging from £10,000 to £130,000.


NI said it could not confirm the figures, which are expected to be clarified during a case management hearing before Mr Justice Vos in the High Court next month, but sources close to the case confirmed that 130 claims had now been settled.



Related Articles

• 
  Hacking: Detective accused of leak worried about 'stretched' police resources
  08 Jan 2013
  
• 
  NoW leaks: 'Gross breach' of trust by detective
  07 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Hacking: Scotland Yard anti-terrorism officers regarded investigation as 'bit of a jolly'
  08 Jan 2013
  

Among other victims who have settled are Emma Noble, the model and former daugher-in-law of Sir John Major; Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary; the former Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine; Lord Blencathra, a former Tory minister; Neil Ruddock, the former footballer and Jeff Brazier, the former boyfriend of Jade Goody, the late Big Brother contestant.

Leslie Grantham, the former EastEnders actor, has also settled, as has Father Richard Reardon, parish priest to the singer Charlotte Church. The singer and her family received £300,000 in damages and £300,000 in legal costs last February after taking their case to the brink of a High Court trial.

Several of those who have settled are members of the public who were briefly thrown into the public eye because of events they were involved in, or because of tangential relationships to celebrities.

They include Michelle Bayford, the girlfriend of a plumber who was left seriously ill when a drugs trial went wrong, and Margaret Atkinson, a friend of the mother of the ex-wife of the golfer Colin Montgomerie.

A spokesman for News International said: "We have been keen from the start to pay the appropriate compensation to the right people and have sought to minimise the duration and distress of the process."

================================

I hope Cherie donated her payout to Charity after trying to cheat the taxman about her Property in London.

1. Home
   

News Corp's James Murdoch shrugs off Liberty Global threat to BSkyB


News Corp executive James Murdoch has shrugged off the threat to BSkyB from
this week’s multi-billion pound acquisition of Virgin Media by US behemoth
Liberty Global.








James Murdoch now works for News
Corp in New York Photo:
AFP






By Richard Blackden

10:40PM GMT 06 Feb 2013

26 Comments




US billionaire John Malone’s Liberty Global agreed to buy Virgin Media for
£14bn on Wednesday as Mr Malone, a longstanding rival of Rupert Murdoch, targets
the UK for the first time.


“I don’t think there’s really a big change to the landscape there,” said
James Murdoch, who was chairman of BSkyB until the phone-hacking scandal forced
his resignation last year.


Although Liberty Global has sought to play down the rivalry between Mr Malone
and Rupert Murdoch, the acquisition of Virgin Media will see the two battle for
supremacy in the UK pay-TV market. BSkyB outstrips its smaller rival and has
double the number of subscribers.


The comment from James Murdoch, who now works for News Corp in New York, came
as the company reported better-than-expected profits for the final three months
of last year. Profits jumped to $2.38bn (£1.5bn) from $1.06bn, as its cable
networks in the US enjoyed strong growth. News Corp also revealed that it spent
$243m last year on the fall-out from the phone-hacking scandal that threatened
to topple Rupert Murdoch in 2011.




Related Articles

Iv'e recently returned to sky after 18 months with virginmedia,(badly managed) because sky were the only internet provider which had their Technical team based in Scotland.
sky advertised unlimited broadband for 6 months but after the first month they emailed me to say I had exceeded the quota and they were charging me another £7.03p pm. The other night the T.V. Packed up ( no signal ) as did the internet .I tried to use their online repair instructions which didn't work so phoned. The usual procedure "you have 5 options" procedure etc, foreigner answered and I could hardly understand a word she said , asked her to speak slowly and she put the phone down. !!!!! I phoned again on my mobile because the landline had packed up as well and was asked to take the phone plug out of the internet connection and plug it into the wall connection and nothing happened. By this time I'm getting p***ed off, it's been almost an hour since my first call. The Assistant agreed that an Engineer would be necessary to call but she had to advise me that if he didn't find a fault I would have to pay £90 because that is how much they have to pay BT, their Engineers. !!!!! Needless to say I went Ape, flatly refused to pay and she too put the phone down on me. Surprise, Surprise, 2 hours later the Phone, Internet and TV came on of it's own accord. I received an e-mail asking me to comment on the recent service I received.....you can guess what I wrote.
Virginmedia had only 5 million customers and the way sky is going they too are going to lose customers , we are being ripped off rotten for poor service.

Telegraph.co.uk










Saturday 09 February 2013

• 
  


• 
  

Sarah Ferguson's phone was hacked for six years by News of the World, court
hears.


The Duchess of York's mobile phone was hacked for six years by the News of
the World, a court was told today, as she and 143 other hacking victims accepted
damages from News International.








Photo:
PA





By Gordon Rayner, Chief
Reporter

11:46AM GMT 08 Feb 2013




The Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston, spoon-bender Uri Geller, actor
Hugh Grant and Colin Stagg, who was wrongly accused of the murder of Rachel
Nickell on Wimbledon Common, have also settled their claims.


It means that 450 people have now settled claims through the High Court, with
more than 250 others being given payouts via a compensation scheme set up by NI.



Mr Justice Vos was told that the 144 victims who have settled in recent
months include the singers James Blunt and Kerry Katona and the former
paymaster-general, Geoffrey Robinson.


Statements on behalf of 17 of the victims were read out to the High Court in
London, but no details of the size of most of the compensation payments were
given. The rest of the claimants did not want statements read out in open court.



The Duchess of York's barrister David Sherborne told Mr Justice Vos: "During
the period from 2000 until 2006 the claimant experienced unusual activity on her
mobile phone.



Related Articles

• 
  Reporter whose evidence convicted Casburn says
  DCI was 'sacrificed' by News Int
  01 Feb
  2013
  
• 
  First Met Police officer jailed in corrupt
  payments investigation
  01 Feb 2013
  
• 
  Operation Elveden: former healthcare worker
  arrested by Scotland Yard anti-corruption police
  24 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Sun defence editor Virginia Wheeler and
  policeman Paul Flattley charged over payments
  22
  Jan 2013
  

"The claimant also noticed that journalists and/or photographers appeared to
know her location in advance, meaning that when she arrived at functions or
planned events, it was often the case that journalists or photographers were
already present."

She commenced proceedings last year for "misuse of private information,
breach of confidence and harassment in respect of the interception of her
telephone messages".

Mr Sherbourne told the court that the Duchess was "targeted" and voicemail
messages on her mobile phone "were intercepted for the News of the World over a
considerable period of time".

He added: "I am here today to announce that News Group Newspapers [the
division of NI that published the News of the World] has accepted liability and
agreed to pay damages to the claimant plus her legal costs."

Paul Tweed, the Duchess's solicitor, said she had been given "a significant
payment" in damages and costs, but added: "Notwithstanding this successful
outcome, my client remains extremely concerned that questions beyond the scope
of these legal proceedings still need to be answered in relation to other
instances of inappropriate and extreme intrusion into her private life."

Anthony Hudson, for NGN, told the judge: "NGN is here today through me to
offer its sincere apologies to the claimant for the damage and the distress
caused to her by the accessing of her voicemail messages and obtaining
confidential information.

"NGN acknowledges that the information should never have been obtained
unlawfully in the manner in which it was, and that NGN is liable for misuse of
private information and breach of confidence."

Jeff Brazier, who fathered two children during his relationship with the
reality TV star Jade Goody, who died of cancer in 2009, had argued with her over
material they thought had been leaked to the News of the World when in fact it
had been obtained through hacking.

The court was told that he was "very distressed that he can now never
apologise to Ms Goody for the times that he did not believe her despite her
denials that she was the source of particular private information in the public
domain".

Also among the 144 victims who settled today are Cherie Blair, the actor
James Nesbitt and David Beckham's father.

Others who settled were one or two steps removed from celebrities in which
the News of the World was interested, such as Charlotte Church's priest and
Edwina Pitt, who worked in a Mayfair gallery whose clients included Jeffrey
Archer.

Hugh Grant's advocate Mark Thomson said the actor had been "distressed to
learn that he had wrongly mistrusted and avoided certain friends and
acquaintances in the past", suspecting them of leaking information to the News
of the World, "and would never find out the full extent of the defendant's
misuse of his private information".

He will make a donation to Hacked Off, the non-profit organisation
campaigning to clean up the media, from his settlement.

Eccleston's voicemail was hacked 16 times in 2005 and 2006 and was "deeply
angry and upset" that the News of the World had destroyed documents that would
have revealed the full extent of the intrusion.

James Blunt, a former soldier, was "shocked" to discover his phone had been
hacked while he was in contact with serving members of the armed forces on duty
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Colin Stagg received £15,500 damages plus costs after his voicemails were
intercepted and his medical records obtained through "blagging".

A further 25 cases, some of which were only launched in recent weeks, remain
outstanding, including seven cases that will go to trial if the complainants do
not reach agreements with NI.

All of the victims had voicemails intercepted by journalists or private
detectives working for the News of the World, which closed in 2011 as a result
of the scandal.

NI is desperate to draw a line under the affair, but fresh claims are still
being launched by victims who have only recently been told by police that their
phones were hacked.

Among the most recently-launched claims are law suits launched by Nigel
Lythgoe, the TV producer, and Simon Jordan, the former owner of Crystal Palace
FC.

NI also faces the prospect of a costly and drawn-out trial if it cannot reach
an agreement with the seven victims who have so far refused to settle. Tony
Woodley, the former joint general secretary of the Unite union, is one of the
seven.
=============
Looking at some of the victims of phone hacking it seems inconceivable that the McCanns were not hacked, they were such a high profile couple at the time. I seem to remember Mitchell saying initially that they were , but the McCanns denied it.

Phone Hacking: Journalists Held In New Probe


The three men and three women arrested all worked for the
now defunct News Of The World and two are currently working at The Sun.


11:09am UK,
Wednesday 13 February 2013

The Sunday tabloid was shut down in 2011 amid phone
hacking claims

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Six current and ex-journalists who all worked for the News Of The
World have been arrested in a new police investigation into phone hacking
claims.

An internal message sent to News International employees confirmed two of
those detained were journalists currently working for The Sun.

The pair have been provided with lawyers.

The six arrested were three men and three women and they were being
interviewed at police stations in London and Cheshire.

Scotland Yard said detectives were looking into a suspected conspiracy that
took place between around 2005 and 2006.

The arrests were made as part of a new line of inquiry separate
from allegations under the existing Scotland Yard investigation into phone
hacking called Operation Weeting.

A number of people have been charged under Operation Weeting.

In the latest arrests, two men aged 45 and 46 were held in Wandsworth, south
London, and a 39-year-old man was detained in Greenwich, south east London.

The three women arrested were a 39-year-old who was detained in Cheshire,
a 33-year-old in Islington, north London, and a 40-year-old in Lambeth,
south London.

Detectives plan to speak to people they believe have been victims of
the suspected phone hacking.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "Detectives on Operation Weeting
have identified a further suspected conspiracy to intercept telephone voicemails
by a number of employees who worked for the now defunct News of the World
newspaper.

"This suspected conspiracy is believed to have taken place primarily during
2005 to 2006. It is separate from the alleged conspiracy already being
investigated by Operation Weeting in which a number of people have been
charged.

"As part of the new lines of inquiry six people were arrested this morning on
suspicion of conspiracy to intercept telephone communications contrary to the
Criminal Law Act 1997. All of them are journalists or former journalists."

Sunday tabloid, the News Of The World, was shut down by owner Rupert
Murdoch and his family in 2011 amid hacking claims.
====================
Newscorp have already spent £220 million on legal fees and thought they had reached the end of the investigation

Phone hacking: former executive editor of the News of the World Neil Wallis
will not face prosecution


The former executive editor of the News of the World has been told he will
face no action over phone-hacking allegations almost two years after he was
arrested.








Ex-News of the World executive
Neil Wallis Photo: WARREN
ALLOTT






By Alice Philipson

1:15PM GMT 22 Feb 2013





Neil Wallis will not face prosecution because there is insufficient evidence,
prosecutors said.


On Friday morning he said on Twitter: "After 21 months of hell for my family,
CPS have just told my solicitors that there will be no prosecution of me re my
phone-hacking arrest."


Mr Wallis, 60, worked at the News International title for six years between
2003 and 2009. He was arrested in July 2011 in a raid on his home in West
London.


He was questioned at Hammersmith police station and has been bailed and then
rebailed several times since.


Prosecutors said today that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges
against a journalist arrested under Operation Weeting.



Related Articles

• 
  Phone hacking: Six arrested in new hacking
  probe
  13 Feb 2013
  
• 
  100 people arrested for hacking and
  corruption
  12 Feb 2013
  
• 
  Sun defence editor to stand trial over alleged
  payments to police
  11 Feb 2013
  
• 
  Sarah Ferguson's phone was hacked for six years
  by News of the World, court hears.
  08 Feb
  2013
  
• 
  Reporter whose evidence convicted Casburn says
  DCI was 'sacrificed' by News Int
  01 Feb
  2013
  

A statement said: "Having carefully considered the matter, the CPS has
concluded that there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of
conviction in relation to that journalist."

Mr Wallis became the paper's executive editor in 2007 under editor Colin
Myler.

Before that he worked as editor of the People for five years from 1998 and
held a number of senior positions at News International including deputy editor
of the Sun.

After leaving the newspaper industry he went on to work for the entertainment
PR firm the Outside Organisation in 2009.

He was the ninth person arrested in the investigation over phone hacking at
News of the World.

Leveson Inquiry: how the truth about David Cameron's
meetings was revealed


The Prime Minister will be quizzed today about his close relationship with
News International executives after details of many meetings leaked out over
recent months. See how long it took for the full truth about David Cameron's
meetings to be revealed.











By Cal Flyn, graphic by Mark Oliver and Dan Palmer

9:45AM BST 14 Jun 2012

54 Comments




The scale of Mr Cameron's contact with News International was initially said
to be as little as ten brief meetings, according to the official releases.



That number expanded to more than 50 occasions.


Later disclosures included a trip to the Murdoch family yacht and a covert
meeting at an Oxfordshire horse race, information gleaned from individuals
testifying at the Leveson inquiry.


Full details of every meeting can be found in the table below.


Datatable: Cameron's meetings with News International executives



Related Articles

• 
  Sketch: The many unhappy faces of David
  Cameron
  14 Jun 2012
  
• 
  Leveson: David Cameron gives evidence - as it
  happened
  14 Jun 2012
  
• 
  The questions that await the Prime Minister at
  Leveson
  14 Jun 2012
  
• 
  Cameron escapes having to order Hunt probe
  
  13 Jun 2012
  

Sources:

Cabinet Office: meetings with ministers (released
quarterly)

Full list of meetings with media executives
(released July 2011)

Addendum to full list (page ten, released
December 2011)

David Cameron 'sneaks out' detail of talks with
Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch's submission to Leveson Inquiry


James Murdoch's submission to Leveson
Inquiry
Andy Coulson's submission to Leveson Inquiry

Rebekah Brooks' submission to Leveson Inquiry

Share 206

Facebook 84

Twitter 122

Email

LinkedIn 0

Leveson Inquiry

• 
  News »
  
• 
  Politics »
  
• 
  David Cameron »
  
• 
  Interactive Graphics »
  
• 
  Cal Flyn »
  

In Leveson Inquiry





Leveson: watch the statement in full







Leveson: how the truth about Cameron's meetings
was revealed






Key moments from the Leveson Inquiry

Share

Operation Elveden: Investigation into corrupt payments costing
£4.5m-a-year


Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged corrupt payments to police and
public officials is costing £4.5million-a-year.








Photo:
AP





By Steven Swinford

3:44PM GMT 28 Feb 2013





Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said that Operation Elveden, which is
looking into contact between public officials and the press, has 52 officers and
10 staff assigned to it.


More than 60 people have been arrested as part of the investigation, which
was set up to investigate "inappropriate payments".


They include Chief Superintendent Andy Rowell, the borough commander in
Ealing, West London, who was arrested earlier this month over allegations that
he passed information to a journalist from News International.


The Metropolitan Police said at the time his arrest did not involve any
allegation that he received money.


Mr Mackey declined to comment on Mr Rowell's arrest, but told the Mayor's
Office of Policing and Crime: "If I obtain information in my role as a police
officer it's not for me to share it with others".



Related Articles

• 
  Sun defence editor Virginia Wheeler and policeman
  Paul Flattley charged over payments
  22 Jan
  2013
  
• 
  Operation Elveden: Sun's crime reporter arrested
  over alleged corrupt payments
  17 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Operation Elveden: Sun reporter arrested over
  alleged payments
  17 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Operation Elveden: three more arrested over
  alleged corrupt payments
  17 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Scotland Yard officer leaked information 'because
  of interference from Lord Prescott'
  07 Jan
  2013
  

He added that 300 police and staff are under investigation for misconduct
across the Metropolitan police.

In addition to the £4.5million annual budget for Operation Elveden, the
Metropolitan Police has already spent £17.5million on investigations into the
media.

They include £11.2million on Operation Weeting, which is investigating phone
hacking, £5million on Operation Elveden, which is looking at contact between the
police and the press, and £1.3million on Operation Tuleta, which is examining
computer hacking.

The CPS said in a statement afterwards: "Perverting the course of justice is
a serious matter and the system relies on people being truthful to police. It is
important that everyone should act within the law - whoever they are."
----------------------------------------------
This is the Judges' comment on the Huhne/ Pryce case, I am just wondering if it is a reference to the upcoming trial of Rebekah Brooks in Septemberr?

Sun's deputy editor charged over payments to officials


Geoff Webster, deputy editor of The Sun, has been charged over alleged
illegal payments to public officials.








Geoff Webster, the paper's
deputy editor, was detained as part of the Met's corruption probe (STEPHEN
LOCK)





By Martin Evans, Crime
Correspondent

11:47AM GMT 20 Mar 2013





Mr Webster, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in
a public office, in connection to alleged payments he authorised at the paper
between July 2010 and November 2010.


The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the charges related to payments of
£6,500 and £1,500 made to public officials in return for information.


In a statement, Alison Levitt, QC, Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of
Public Prosecutions (DPP), said: “This statement is made in the interests of
transparency and accountability to explain the decisions reached in respect of
cases arising from Operation Elveden, which is the Metropolitan Police Service
investigation into allegations involving the unlawful provision of information
by public officials to journalists.


"This announcement relates to a file of evidence received from the
Metropolitan Police Service. The full file of evidence was received by the CPS
on 4 March 2013.


"We have concluded, following a careful review of the evidence, that Geoff
Webster, who at the time of the alleged offending was Deputy Editor of The Sun
newspaper, should be charged with two offences of conspiring to commit
misconduct in public office, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act
1977.



Related Articles

• 
  Prison officer arrested over alleged
  payments
  28 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Operation Elveden: three more arrested over
  alleged corrupt payments
  17 Jan 2013
  
• 
  Brooks and Coulson charged with illegal payments
  to officials
  20 Nov 2012
  
• 
  Pictures of Saddam Hussein in his underpants
  could spell trouble for News Corporation
  19 Nov
  2012
  

"The first offence relates to allegations that Mr Webster, between July 2010
and August 2011, authorised payments totalling £6,500 for information supplied
by a public official to one of his journalists.

“The second offence relates to an allegation that in November 2010, Mr
Webster authorised a payment of £1,500 for information provided by an unknown
public official.

"All of these matters were considered carefully in accordance with the DPP's
guidelines on the public interest in cases affecting the media.

“These guidelines require prosecutors to consider whether the public interest
served by the conduct in question outweighs the overall criminality before
bringing criminal proceedings. "Accordingly, we have authorised the institution
of proceedings and Mr Webster will appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court
on 26 March 2013."

Mr Webster was appointed joint deputy editor of The Sun in 2009 having joined
the paper in 2003 from the News of the World where he was head of pictures.

He was arrested last February along with four other senior figures at the
newspaper and three public officials.

So far 61 people have been arrested under Operation Elveden, Scotland Yard's
investigation into alleged inappropriate payments to public officials.

Of these, 12 including Mr Webster have or will face court action. The cases
involve four former police officers, six journalists and two other public
officials.

MPs accuse News International executives of 'misleading Parliament'


The Culture, Media and Sport select committee finds that Rupert Murdoch's
News Corporation executives misled Parliament over phone hacking at The News of
the World.




































12:04PM BST 01 May 2012




Follow live coverage of the Culture,
Media and Sport select committee's phone hacking report


Three of News International's most senior executives - former executive
chairman Les Hinton, ex-legal manager Tom Crone and former News of the World
editor Colin Myler - misled the 2009 Parliamentary inquiry into phone hacking, MPs concluded.


In a devastating report into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, the
Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee found News Corp guilty of "huge
failings of corporate governance" and that throughout its instinct had been "to
cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing and discipline the perpetrators".

Elveden: Officials Jailed For Selling Stories


Ex-PC Alan Tierney and prison officer Richard Trunkfield
receive 10 and 16 months respectively for selling stories to The Sun.


2:21pm UK,
Wednesday 27 March 2013

Alan Tierney arrives at the Old Bailey

• 
  

A former police officer has been jailed for 10 months and a
prison officer for 16 months for selling information to The Sun.

Ex-Surrey PC Alan Tierney was sentenced at the Old Bailey after admitting two
counts of misconduct earlier this month.

Prison officer Richard Trunkfield was sentenced at the same court for selling
information on James Bulger killer Jon Venables.

He had also admitted misconduct in public office.

Tierney, from Hayling Island, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to two counts - one
between March 26 and April 3, 2009, and a second between December 2 and 7,
2009.

He sold details about Sue Terry and Sue Poole, the mother and mother-in-law
of Terry, both being arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Surrey.
One of the stories sold was about Rolling
Stone Ronnie Wood
He also sold details about the arrest of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie
Wood, 65, on suspicion of beating up his Russian lover Ekaterina Ivanova, who is
in her 20s.

He received £1250 for the information which was paid by cheque to his
brother-in-law.

Terry, Poole and Wood all accepted cautions over the matters.

In mitigation, the court heard that most of the details that Tierney had
passed on would have eventually become public, and that their leak had not
undermined any investigation.

The witness in the Terry case had also approached two other newspapers to try
to sell his story.

Trunkfield has since resigned from Woodhill prison and Venables is no longer
being held there, the court heard.

New father Trunkfield had contact with a journalist at The Sun between 10 and
15 times and received £3,500 for information.

Mr Justice Fulford told him: "It's for those in authority to decide on the
extent to which, if at all, it's in the public interest to reveal the details
concerning a particular defendant, balancing a wide range of factors.

"It is most assuredly not for individual prison officers to take it upon
themselves to contact the press to reveal information about a defendant in
circumstances such as those before the court today, still less to enrich
themselves in the process."

In mitigation, the court heard that Trunkfield had no direct contact with
Venables and passed on minor details such as what he was eating, including
burger and chips.

After he saw the stories that were being published, he assigned his
journalist contact a different ringtone so he could ignore the calls, the court
heard.

It was also claimed that information was being leaked by another,
unidentified source at the prison.

Tierney and Trunkfield were arrested as part of the Operation Elveden, the
Metropolitan Police Service's probe into payments to officials.



L

Former prison officer jailed for Jon Venables leak


A former prison officer has been jailed for selling information to a
newspaper on Jon Venables, one of Jamie Bulger's killers.








Prison officer Richard
Trunkfield leaving Westminster Magistrates Court Photo:
CENTRAL





By Edward Malnick

6:55PM GMT 27 Mar 2013





Richard Trunkfield, who worked at the high security Woodhill prison near
Milton Keynes, received £3,500 for details he passed to The Sun about Venables'
time in jail.


Among the disclosures were descriptions of the meals Venables ate in prison,
including burgers and chips.


^{It could not initially be reported that the prisoner
involved was Venables because of legal restrictions on reporting his
whereabouts}


On Wednesday Trunkfield, 31, was sentenced to 16 months in prison after he
admitted misconduct in public office earlier this month.


Alan Tierney, a former Surrey Police constable, was also sentenced at the Old
Bailey yesterday, for selling details of the separate arrests of footballer John
Terry's mother and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood - for which he received £1,250.




Related Articles

• 
  Operation Elveden: Prison officer to be
  charged
  19 Feb 2013
  
• 
  Prison officer arrested over alleged payments
  
  28 Jan 2013
  
• 
  100 people arrested for hacking and
  corruption
  12 Feb 2013
  
• 
  Sun defence editor to stand trial over alleged
  payments to police
  11 Feb 2013
  

^{Alan Tierney was jailed for 10 months}

Tierney, 40, from Hayling Island, Hampshire, who admitted two counts of
misconduct in public office in 2009, was jailed for 10 months.

Passing sentence on both men in separate hearings the judge, Mr Justice
Fulford said: "This country has long prided itself on the integrity of its
public officials and cynical acts of betrayal of that high standard have a
profoundly corrosive effect."

Trunkfield, from Moulton, Northamptonshire, had contact with a journalist at
the Sun between 10 and 15 times.

The court heard that he was struggling with debt in 2010 when he sold the
information about Venables, who, together with Robert Thompson, brutally
murdered two-year-old Jamie Bulger 20 years ago in Liverpool.

It heard he had cared for his mother while she was suffering from cancer in
2008 and 2009.

The judge told Trunkfield: "It's for those in authority to decide on the
extent to which, if at all, it's in the public interest to reveal the details
concerning a particular defendant, balancing a wide range of factors.

"It is most assuredly not for individual prison officers to take it upon
themselves to contact the press to reveal information about a defendant in
circumstances such as those before the court today, still less to enrich
themselves in the process."

In mitigation, the court heard that Trunkfield had no direct contact with
Venables and passed on minor details such as what he was eating, including
burger and chips.

In January 2011 The Sun published a report detailing how Venables’ cover in
prison “has been blown”.

“Fearful Venables is being given 24-hour protection inside jail as he gorges
on burgers and chips in his cell,” it said.

Trunkfield was arrested as part of Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan
Police's investigation into corrupt payments to public officials.

It could not initially be reported that the prisoner involved was Venables
because of legal restrictions on reporting his whereabouts.

Trunkfield has since resigned from Woodhill prison and Venables is no longer
being held there, the court heard.

It was also claimed that information was being leaked by another,
unidentified source at the prison

Phone Hacking: Brooks' Security Man Charged


Ex-News International boss Rebekah Brooks' bodyguard is
accused of hiding computers and other items from police officers.


12:55pm UK,
Friday 03 May 2013

Police were investigating claims of phone hacking at the
News of the World

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  A bodyguard who worked for former News International boss Rebekah
  Brooks has been charged with perverting the course of justice, after allegedly
  hiding computers from police.
  
  David Johnson, 47, is accused of concealing items from officers investigating
  allegations of phone hacking and corrupt payments to public officials by
  journalists at the News Of The World and The Sun.
  
  The security professional allegedly conspired with six other people already
  charged in relation to Operation Sacha - namely Mrs Brooks, Charles Brooks, Mark
  Hanna, Lee Sandell, Daryl Jorsling and Paul Edwards - in July 2011.
  
  Johnson, of Mitcham, Surrey, will appear before Westminster Magistrates'
  Court on May 8.
  
  Gregor McGill, a senior Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, said: "Following a
  careful review of the evidence, we have concluded that David Johnson, a security
  professional who was employed to provide a protection service to Rebekah Brooks,
  should be charged with an offence of conspiracy to pervert the course of public
  justice."
  
  "The decision to prosecute has been taken in accordance with the Code
  for Crown Prosecutors," he added.
  
  Operation Sacha is the Metropolitan Police investigation into allegations of
  perverting the course of justice.
  
  It relates to Operation Weeting, the phone hacking inquiry, and Operation
  Elveden, the investigation into alleged corrupt payments to police and other
  public officials.
  




• ==================================
  


• Well it looks as though Rebecca will go to Jail, even Murdoch or Cameron will not be able to have a quiet word with the Police.
  

Ex-Policeman Jailed For Selling Info To Sun


A former policeman has been convicted for trying to sell
information about the daughter of Katie Price and Peter Andre to the Sun.


11:59am UK,
Thursday 09 May 2013

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Former Sussex Police sergeant James Bowes was jailed for 10
months at the Old Bailey today for trying to sell information to the Sun.

The information was related to the daughter of celebrities Peter Andre and
Katie Price.

More follows...

Find a JobM&S WineFeedback








Tuesday, Jun 04 20139AM 14°C12PM17°C5-Day Forecast



Chipping Norton Set’s final hurrah: How Elisabeth Murdoch threw decadent priory party with Mandelson, Cameron's cronies and BBC's Robert Peston hours before Dowler scandal broke



By Simon Walters and Glen Owen
UPDATED:15:39, 17 July 2011

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

0 shares 110
View
comments

It was the highlight of the summer season for the Chipping Norton Set.
Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth and her PR tycoon husband Matthew Freud threw a party of decadent opulence and excess that saw the political and media elite flock to their 22-bedroom Cotswolds mansion Burford Priory yet again.
Just 24 hours later, the news broke that murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile had been hacked by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper and his global empire was plunged into disarray.


Generous hosts: But are Elizabeth Murdoch and husband Matthew Freud's opulent influence coming to an end?

The consequences could be just as far-reaching for the Chipping Norton Set.
The Murdoch-Freuds' marathon all-night party, which started on the evening of July 2 and ended at noon the following day, could turn out to be its last hurrah.
The party guest list paints a telling picture of the powerful web of influence that the couple had spun before the hacking crisis erupted. It reads like a roll call of the modern establishment – with the Murdochs and other News International executives at the hub.

More...

• Gordon Brown calls in police as row deepens with Murdoch papers
  
• Why did Prince's lawyers hide hacking evidence? Firm that advises Royals entangled in row over 'cover up'
  

The group has been dubbed the Chipping Norton Set because its key members, including Prime Minister David Cameron, all own homes within a few miles of the Oxfordshire town. One prominent member of the set described its allure – and its value to the Murdochs.
'It is like the social wing of the Murdoch media empire. Rupert wields his influence through his newspaper and TV network. Elisabeth and Matthew feed off this by providing a link between the worlds of politics, business and showbusiness. Their wealth means they can provide for them all to meet in complete privacy at Burford. Behind it all is the unspoken assumption that if you are out of favour with Rupert Murdoch, you are not likely to get invited.'


Chipping Norton HQ: Burford Priory, Oxfordshire, where Miss Murdoch held her parties
The party, held two weekends ago, reveals the extent of the couple's connections on both sides of the Commons.
As a jazz band played in the landscaped gardens of the £6  million property, Mr Freud, who was wearing leather trousers, greeted guests, including Education Secretary Michael Gove and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey. They drank champagne in the company of former Labour Cabinet Ministers Peter Mandelson, David Miliband, James Purnell and Douglas Alexander.
Steve Hilton, Mr Cameron's shaven-headed policy guru, who was there with his forceful wife, Google communications chief Rachel Whetstone, was seen 'laughing giddily' across the political divide with Lord Mandelson and Mr Miliband.

At the centre of the throng, Elisabeth's brother, James Murdoch, the deputy chief operating officer of News Corp, was locked in conversation with Rebekah Brooks, who resigned on Friday as chief executive of News International.





Invited The BBC's Robert Peston, left, and Lord Mandelson, right, were among guests at Elisabeth Murdoch's Burford Priory at her party two weeks ago


Although the bombshell Milly Dowler phone hacking had not yet become public knowledge, Ms Brooks clearly knew she was in trouble.
One witness said: 'Usually, Rebekah flits around having a word with everyone. She loves being the centre of attention. But that night she spent nearly all her time with News International people.'
Some partygoers say there were clear signs of tension in the Murdoch clan. Shortly before her resignation, Elisabeth Murdoch reportedly erupted in fury at the way Ms Brooks has damaged News International, saying she had ****** the company.
The festivities started at 7pm on the Saturday evening, with the dancing – and drinking – continuing until 4am. Lord Mandelson was particularly 'vigorous', one guest said. Guests could wander into two opulent marquees laid on by entrepreneur Nick Jones, who had created two miniature versions of his London restaurants, Pizza East and Cecconi's.
Mr Jones's fashionable Soho House chain of clubs and restaurants is promoted by his host's PR company, Freud Communications. With Mr Jones was his wife, broadcaster Kirsty Young.
Partygoers could also try their hand at driving an E-type Jaguar parked in the priory's grounds to provide extra entertainment. Those 'sleeping over' were offered Sunday brunch.


Senior figures: Rupert Murdoch leaves News International HQ in with News International Group general manager Will Lewis
Will Lewis, the group general manager of News International, spent a large part of the evening in a conspiratorial huddle with his old friend BBC business editor Robert Peston, who has broken many of the stories during the hacking scandal.
Some media commentators speculating about Mr Peston's 'inside track' on the story have highlighted the close personal and professional relationship between the two men.
The BBC's director-general Mark Thompson, corporation executive Alan Yentob and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson – another member of the Chipping Norton Set and responsible for introducing Mrs Brooks to her husband, Old Etonian Charlie Brooks – were also present.
Clarkson's wife, Francie, came to the party 'but did not seem to be with Jeremy', according to one guest. The couple's relationship is reported to have been under strain following newspaper claims that Mr Clarkson had an affair with a member of his production staff.

'Rebekah is one of my closest friends': Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Clarkson defended Rebekah Wade in his column for the Sun
Yesterday, Jeremy Clarkson defended Mrs Brooks in his column in The Sun: 'Rebekah is one of my closest friends and I'm sorry but I cannot accept that she sanctioned the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone, knowing that it would cause the girl's poor parents to believe their beloved daughter was still alive… I'd sooner believe that my mother spends her evenings working as a rent boy.'
He argued that the celebrated US journalists Woodward and Bernstein, who brought down US President Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal in 1974, would have hacked phones if it had been technically possible.
'Did they hack into Nixon's phone? No. Would they have done so if it had been possible? You betcha. And would that have been justified? I think so.'
Veteran Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow enjoyed the Freuds' hospitality at Burford, as did CNN host and Mail on Sunday columnist Piers Morgan, who joked on arriving with wife Celia Walden: 'I've never seen so many people who hate each other together in one room.'
Morgan was joined by actress Helena Bonham Carter, explorer Bear Grylls and TV presenter Mariella Frostrup. After a brief welcome speech, Elisabeth Murdoch invited guests to visit their luxurious private cinema, where the heavyweight boxing match between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko was being screened.
Ulster-born comedian Patrick Kielty watched the contest with singer Lily Allen, new husband Sam Cooper and Freud. David Tang and Andrew Davies, whose Von Essen Hotels chain went into administration in April, were also there.
Intriguingly, former Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell – a victim of phone-hacking herself – turned up with her estranged husband, lawyer David Mills. Five years ago, the pair announced they had separated when Mr Mills was accused of corruption in an Italian court, a charge later thrown out. Some observers claimed the split was a ploy to distance herself from his problems, something that Ms Jowell denies.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336187/Rebekah-Brooks-denies-phone-hacking-charges-trying-derail-police-probe-appears-court-News-International-colleagues.html

Good old Tom Watson there to watch over the proceedings!