Former Brighton and Hove police sergeant charged in leaks operation (From The Argus)
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Former Brighton and Hove police sergeant charged in leaks operation
10:50am Friday 15th March 2013 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter
Sussex Police
A former Sussex Police officer has been charged with selling information about three high profile investigations to The Sun newspaper.
Sergeant James Bowes, a neighbourhood policing officer in Brighton and Hove who was based in the Regency ward of the city, was yesterday charged by the Crown Prosecution Service after being arrested in a dawn raid last August.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 26 accused of misconduct between April 9 and July 20, 2010.
The CPS said that: “James Bowes, being a public officer, namely a police constable with Sussex Police, and acting as such, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully mis-conducted himself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in that office.”
Alison Levitt, QC, principal legal advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), oversaw the CPS’s decision to prosecute Bowes as part of Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan Police Service investigation into allegations involving the unlawful provision of information by public officials to journalists.
She said: “The investigation in this case was overseen by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
“A charging file in respect of this matter was received by the CPS on March 1, 2013.
Investigation
“We have concluded, following a careful review of the evidence, that James Bowes should be charged with an offence of misconduct in public office.
“It is alleged that in 2010 Mr Bowes provided information to The Sun newspaper in breach of the terms of his employment and was paid £500.
“The charge relates to allegations that Mr Bowes provided details to the newspaper about three high profile investigations being conducted by Sussex Police at the time.
“All of these matters were 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.”
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