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| Sun executive editor to be charged under Operation Elveden | Sun executive editor to be charged under Operation Elveden |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The Sun executive editor Fergus Shanahan is to face prosecution over an allegation that he authorised payments totalling £7,000 to a public official. | The Sun executive editor Fergus Shanahan is to face prosecution over an allegation that he authorised payments totalling £7,000 to a public official. |
| On Thursday the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Shanahan will be charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in public office. | On Thursday the Crown Prosecution Service announced that Shanahan will be charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in public office. |
| Shanahan is accused of authorising two payments totalling £7,000 to a public official in return for information between 7 August 2006 and 14 August 2007. | Shanahan is accused of authorising two payments totalling £7,000 to a public official in return for information between 7 August 2006 and 14 August 2007. |
| The former deputy editor of the Sun from 2003 to 2009, Shanahan becomes the most senior current Sun journalist to face charges under the Operation Elveden inquiry into alleged corruption. | The former deputy editor of the Sun from 2003 to 2009, Shanahan becomes the most senior current Sun journalist to face charges under the Operation Elveden inquiry into alleged corruption. |
| Alison Levitt, QC, principal legal adviser to the director of public prosecutions, said in a statement: "Our decision to prosecute was 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. | Alison Levitt, QC, principal legal adviser to the director of public prosecutions, said in a statement: "Our decision to prosecute was 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. |
| "May I remind all concerned that proceedings for a criminal offence involving Mr Shanahan will now be commenced and that he has a right to a fair trial. It is very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice that trial. For these reasons it would be inappropriate for me to comment further." | "May I remind all concerned that proceedings for a criminal offence involving Mr Shanahan will now be commenced and that he has a right to a fair trial. It is very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice that trial. For these reasons it would be inappropriate for me to comment further." |
| Shanahan will appear before Westminster magistrates' court on 8 May. | Shanahan will appear before Westminster magistrates' court on 8 May. |
| He was one of the first Sun journalists arrested when Scotland Yard detectives widened their investigation into police corruption in January last year. | |
| He has been on police bail since his arrest on 28 January 2012, when he was held alongside newsdesk executive, Chris Pharo, former managing editor Graham Dudman, and Mike Sullivan, the Sun's crime editor who was last month told he would not face charges under the investigation. | |
| Like many other of the arrested journalists, Shanahan has returned to work at the Sun. | |
| Shanahan was elevated to the executive role in November 2007 after four years as the deputy to then editor Rebekah Brooks. | |
| He wrote a regular column for the Sun in his time as deputy and for two years as executive editor. | |
| He signed off his final column on 27 October 2009, writing: "When I started doing this page four years ago, Westminster ran Britain, the Tories were in the wilderness, Chancellor Brown was telling us he had abolished boom and bust and Blair was unchallenged as PM. Four years on, Brussels runs Britain, the Tories are set for election victory, Brown has bankrupted Britain and as for Blair – well, he's about to become our PM again in all but name as EU president. | |
| "As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And with that, it's time for a change on this page, too." | |
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