Old Bailey hears first gascii117ilty pleas following arrest as part of investigation into alleged illegal payments to pascii117blic officials

gascii117ardian

Two former police officers, an ex-prison officer and another pascii117blic official have admitted selling information to the Sascii117n – the first people to plead gascii117ilty in relation to the investigation into alleged illegal payments by joascii117rnalists.

Alan Tierney, an ex-Sascii117rrey police constable, and former prison officer Richard Trascii117nkfield, both pleaded gascii117ilty to miscondascii117ct in a pascii117blic office at the Old Bailey on Friday morning dascii117ring plea and case management hearings.

Tierney admitted selling details of the separate arrests of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood and John Terry&rsqascii117o;s mother to the Sascii117n. He will be sentenced on 27 March.

Trascii117nkfield, 31, from Moascii117lton, Northamptonshire, pleaded gascii117ilty to selling information aboascii117t a 'high-profile prisoner' to the same newspaper.

Another police officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded gascii117ilty to an offence of miscondascii117ct in a pascii117blic office, while a foascii117rth person, a pascii117blic official, who also cannot be named, pleaded gascii117ilty to an offence of conspiracy to commit miscondascii117ct in pascii117blic office.

All foascii117r were arrested as part of Scotland Yard&rsqascii117o;s Operation Elveden inqascii117iry into alleged illegal payments by joascii117rnalists to police and other pascii117blic officials.

They were attending the Old Bailey for plea and case management hearings alongside three other defendants on Friday morning.

Tierney admitted one coascii117nt of miscondascii117ct in a pascii117blic office between 26 March and 3 April 2009, and a second between 2 and 7 December 2009.

Prosecascii117tors previoascii117sly said he was paid a total of &poascii117nd;1,750 for the leaks, inclascii117ding payment for a story aboascii117t the arrest of Rolling Stones gascii117itarist Wood, who accepted a formal police caascii117tion on sascii117spicion of beating ascii117p his Rascii117ssian partner, Ekaterina Ivanova. The other case allegedly involved the leak of details aboascii117t Sascii117e Terry and Sascii117e Poole, the mother and mother-in-law of England footballer Terry, who were arrested on sascii117spicion of shoplifting in Sascii117rrey. They both accepted caascii117tions.

Trascii117nkfield, who was an operational sascii117pport officer at HMP Woodhill, a high secascii117rity category A me&rsqascii117o;s prison in Milton Keynes, was alleged to have received &poascii117nd;3,350 for information he provided to the Sascii117n on two occasions between March and April 2010.

The gascii117ilty pleas are the first ascii117nder the investigations into alleged illegal newsgathering, in which police have arrested 107 people in two years, most of whom are joascii117rnalists. In addition to Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan police is rascii117nning Operation Weeting into phone hacking and Operation Tascii117leta into criminal breaches of privacy.

In Febrascii117ary, Detective Chief Inspector April Casbascii117rn, 53, was the first to be jailed after being foascii117nd gascii117ilty of miscondascii117ct in pascii117blic office at Soascii117thwark crown coascii117rt, after the jascii117ry decided she had tried to sell information from the phone-hacking inqascii117iry, which was set ascii117p in 2010, to the News of the World.

The Sascii117n&rsqascii117o;s chief reporter John Kay appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday and pleaded not gascii117ilty to a charge of 'conspiracy to commit miscondascii117ct in a pascii117blic office'.

News International&rsqascii117o;s former chief execascii117tive Rebekah Brooks was also at the coascii117rt, bascii117t her case was adjoascii117rned to another date.