Detective charged in leaks probe

DCI April Casburn faces an accusation that she offered to give the now defunct tabloid the News of the World information
24 September 2012

A senior detective has been charged with misconduct in a public office for allegedly leaking information to a newspaper.

Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn faces an accusation that she offered to give the now defunct tabloid the News of the World (NOTW) information in September 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

She is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on October 1.

Principal legal adviser Alison Levitt QC said: "The CPS received a file of evidence from the Metropolitan Police Service which arose from Operation Elveden in relation to April Casburn. Ms Casburn is employed by the Metropolitan Police Service as a Detective Chief Inspector in Specialist Operations.

"We have concluded, having carefully considered the file of evidence, that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to charge DCI Casburn with misconduct in public office."

Ms Casburn faces an allegation that on September 11, 2010 "being a public officer, and acting as such, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully misconducted herself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in that office".

She is accused of contacting the NOTW and offering to give the newspaper information.

The charges have been brought as part of Operation Elveden, an investigation into alleged corrupt payments to officials that has so far seen 50 arrests.

Ms Levitt added: "May I remind all concerned that DCI Casburn is now charged with a criminal offence and has a right to a fair trial. It is very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice that trial. For these reasons it would be inappropriate for me to comment further."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in