Four senior Sun journalists cleared of paying officials for stories

 
Cleared: Former Sun chief reporter John Kay (file image, PA)
Paul Cheston20 March 2015
WEST END FINAL

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Four senior Sun journalists walked free from the Old Bailey today after being cleared of paying Government officials for stories.

Among those found not guilty are the Sun’s chief reporter John Kay – widely considered to be one of the finest journalists in Fleet Street – and its royal editor Duncan Larcombe.

The not guilty verdicts are a hammer blow for the multi-million Operation Elveden inquiry which has faced renewed accusations of attacking press freedom.

Despite dozens of reporters being arrested a succession of trials have failed to convict journalists.

Kay, 71, had been accused of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office by allegedly paying a Ministry of Defence official for leaks between 2004 and 2012.

The MoD official, Bettina Jordan-Barber, had earlier pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

Kay was alleged to have agreed for the paper to pay his "number one military contact" £100,000 for stories, including information about Princes Harry and William.

Two Sun executives Geoff Webster and Fergus Shanahan, were found not guilty of conspiring with Kay to commit misconduct in public office.

Larcombe had been accused of paying John Hardy, a former colour sergeant at Sandhurst, between 2006 and 2008.

Hardy’s wife Claire was said to have channelled some of her husband's payments through her bank.

Larcombe was cleared of aiding, abetting, counselling and procuring John Hardy in the offence. Mr and Mrs Hardy were also cleared.

Kay is the only journalist to be named the British Press Awards Reporter of the Year twice and was described in court as a "true legend" on a "pedestal" in the industry.

He was considered a "safe pair of hands" by ministers, civil servants and the military at the MoD, the court heard.

Lord West of Spithead said in a statement that he had known Kay since 2002 and described him as "always scrupulous".

If he ever came across a story that "inadvertently threatened national interests" he would immediately stop work on it, said the admiral and former First Sea Lord.

Trevor Burke QC, defending, said Kay was on trial for “simply doing his job” and the prosecution bore “the hallmark of oppressive regimes that seek to restrict free speech.”

Deputy Editor Webster was also cleared of a second count of conspiracy to commit misconduct with Hardy.

Kay, of Golders Green, Larcombe, 39, of Aylesford, Kent; Webster, 55, of Goudhurst, Kent; Shanahan, 60, of Felsted, Essex; and John Hardy, 44, and Claire Hardy, 41, of Accrington, Lancashire, had all denied the charges against them.

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