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| The Sun's Geoff Webster charged over payments to officials | The Sun's Geoff Webster charged over payments to officials |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The deputy editor of the Sun, Geoff Webster, has been charged with allegedly authorising two payments to public officials for information, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. | The deputy editor of the Sun, Geoff Webster, has been charged with allegedly authorising two payments to public officials for information, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. |
| He is charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office, relating to payments totalling £8,000. | He is charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office, relating to payments totalling £8,000. |
| The charges are part of the Met's Operation Elveden, a probe into illegal payments to public officials. | The charges are part of the Met's Operation Elveden, a probe into illegal payments to public officials. |
| News International, which owns the Sun, told staff it would support Mr Webster. | News International, which owns the Sun, told staff it would support Mr Webster. |
| The 53-year-old, from Cranbrook in Kent, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 26 March. | |
| The official in the first charge cannot be identified for legal reasons, and the second - who has not been named - is understood to have been either a member of the armed forces or a Ministry of Defence employee. | The official in the first charge cannot be identified for legal reasons, and the second - who has not been named - is understood to have been either a member of the armed forces or a Ministry of Defence employee. |
| 'Unknown official' | 'Unknown official' |
| Alison Levitt QC, principal legal advisor to the director of public prosecutions, said in a statement that Mr Webster was charged with "two offences of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977". | Alison Levitt QC, principal legal advisor to the director of public prosecutions, said in a statement that Mr Webster was charged with "two offences of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977". |
| She added: "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. | She added: "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." | "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." |
| Staff at the Sun have been sent an internal memo by Mike Darcey, chief executive of News International, in which he describes Mr Webster as a "long standing and valued colleague" and that his "thoughts are with... his family at this time". | Staff at the Sun have been sent an internal memo by Mike Darcey, chief executive of News International, in which he describes Mr Webster as a "long standing and valued colleague" and that his "thoughts are with... his family at this time". |
| Mr Darcey also told staff that News International would support Mr Webster through the legal process. | Mr Darcey also told staff that News International would support Mr Webster through the legal process. |
| About 60 people have been arrested as part of the Metropolitan Police's Elveden inquiry, which is being run alongside two other police investigations. | About 60 people have been arrested as part of the Metropolitan Police's Elveden inquiry, which is being run alongside two other police investigations. |
| Operation Weeting is an inquiry into alleged phone hacking, while Operation Tuleta is an investigation into computer hacking and other privacy breaches. | Operation Weeting is an inquiry into alleged phone hacking, while Operation Tuleta is an investigation into computer hacking and other privacy breaches. |