Former prison officer Richard Trunkfield has been sentenced to 16 months for selling information about James Bulger's killer Jon Venables to The Sun. Ex-PC Alan Tierney was jailed for 10 months for details about the arrest of John Terry's mother.
Passing sentence on both men in separate hearings today, 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.
Former prison officer Richard Trunkfield has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for selling information about James Bulger's killer Jon Venables to The Sun newspaper, it can now be reported.
Trunkfield, 31, from Moulton, Northamptonshire, admitted leaking information while working at high security Woodhill Prison near Milton Keynes. It could not initially be reported that the prisoner involved was Venables because of legal restrictions on reporting his whereabouts.
But the court heard today that Venables is no longer at Woodhill. Trunkfield pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between March 2 and April 30, 2010.
It is wholly against the public interest for those who hold public office cynically to profit out of the misery or unfortunate circumstances of those for whom they are responsible.
The most serious aspect of the two offences is that, in relation to count two, the defendant provided the name and, most significantly, the address of the witness.
– Judge Justice FulfordThe fact that the individual coincidentally tried to sell the story to another newspaper is neither here nor there in terms of what this defendant had in mind.
Put bluntly, it could easily have led to that witness withdrawing all co-operation as regards being a witness.
Former Police Constable Alan Tierney has been jailed for 10 months today at the Old Bailey for selling information to the Sun newspaper.
Alan Tierney and Richard Trunkfield were arrested as part of Operation Elveden, which was set up to investigate allegations of newspapers paying police officers for information.
Tierney sold details about Sue Terry and Sue Poole, the mother and mother-in-law of former England football captain John Terry, being arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in Surrey. They accepted cautions.
He also sold details about the arrest of guitarist Ronnie Wood, 65, on suspicion of beating up his Russian lover Ekaterina Ivanova, who is in her 20s. Wood also accepted a caution.
Trunkfield leaked information about a high profile inmate while working at high security Woodhill prison near Milton Keynes.
Former police officer Alan Tierney, from Hayling Island, Hampshire, has been released on bail after admitting to selling information about the arrests of John Terry's mother and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood to the Sun newspaper.
Tierney will to be sentenced on March 27. Mr Justice Fulford, sitting at the Old Bailey, warned him that "all options remain open". Tierney pleaded guilty to two counts of misconduct in public office.
Prison officer Richard Trunkfield, 31, from Northamptonshire, has admitted at the Old Bailey leaking information about a high-profile prisoner while working at high security Woodhill prison, near Milton Keynes to The Sun newspaper.
Former police officer Alan Tierney admitted at the Old Bailey selling information about the arrests of John Terry's mother and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood to the Sun newspaper.