Leveson inquiry: Police find ‘network of corruption’

POLICE investigating claims public officials unlawfully accepted money from journalists think they have uncovered a “network” of corruption, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.

Evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police suggested a “culture of illegal payments” at the Sun newspaper, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers told the inquiry.

Payments appeared to have been authorised at a “senior level” within the newspaper and journalists recognised this was “illegal”, said Ms Akers.

She told Lord Justice Leveson “payments by journalists to public officials” had been identified in the “police, military, health and government”.

“The evidence suggests that payments were being made across all areas of public life,” she said in a written statement.

“The current assessment of the evidence is that it reveals a network of corrupted officials.There appears to have been a culture at the Sun of illegal payments, and systems have been created to facilitate such payments whilst hiding the identity of the officials receiving the money.”

Later, former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott told the inquiry he believed there was a “conspiracy of silence” among police to hide the facts about the extent of phone hacking.