Police officer’s Sun tips were ‘driven by greed’, jury told

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/30/police-offocer-sun-tips-vince-soodin

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The police are not in office to boost the circulation figures of the Sun newspaper by leaking stories, a jury at the Old Bailey has been told.

In his closing speech in the trial of Sun journalist Vince Soodin, the prosecutor claimed that a police officer’s decision to give the paper story tips was “driven by greed”, adding “the journalist was happy to fill that greed”.

James Bowes, a police officer working in Brighton at the time was paid £500 by the Sun for information about a toddler bitten by a fox in June 2010 and other tips.

Soodin had been working on his own on the Saturday the email was sent in and said he sent Bowes a “stock response” telling him he was “happy to pay for the story”.

He has denied plotting with a corrupt officer and entering an agreement with him which would amount to a conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

Peter Wright QC, for the crown, told jurors the “motivation” of Bowes was “personal enrichment” when he emailed the Sun with information about the three-year-old boy and when he later gave Soodin another tip about a plan to excavate the former home of a serial killer in Brighton.

“This isn’t a whistleblower ... who is appalled by some conduct on part of a government agency that he or she feels compelled to bring it to the public’s attention and supply it to a newspaper so the public can be informed,” said Wright.

Wright added: “Journalists are not entitled to break the law because they consider confidential information received by an officer in the course of his duties is newsworthy.”

Earlier the jury heard from two character witnesses for Soodin.

Jodie Thorsby, who works in public relations, told jurors she could trust Soodin “100%”. She described him as “polite, genuine, honest and very talented”, adding that he was full of “humility, empathy and selflessness throughout the whole ordeal” between his arrest in August 2012 and the trial.

Wright told jurors that because “someone is unquestionably a nice guy is not a defence” and did not offer an “indemnity” for his behaviour.

He urged the jury to “consider the evidence in this case, calmly and dispassionately”, adding that a police officer who disclosed confidential information “in the hope of making money” was misconduct of “the gravest kind”.

“It amounts to as serious abuse of public’s trust in him as a holder of public office,” said Wright.

“The public trust police officers to act in accordance with their office, not in accordance with their own selfish private agenda,” he added.

He accused Soodin of lying about his contact with a member of the public, a clairvoyant, who had been in touch with police about serial killer Peter Tobin.

He said this was “the shady side of journalism” where the trust a member of the public vested in the police was “compromised for the sake of a few lines in an newspaper”.

He then invited the jury to return a guilty verdict.

The trial continues.