Journalist in court over 'payments'

A Sun journalist and a press officer for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have appeared in court charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office over alleged inappropriate payments.

The newspaper's Whitehall editor Clodagh Hartley and Jonathan Hall from HMRC are both facing charges, along with Hall's partner Marta Bukarewicz, who is not a public official.

They each face one charge - that between March 30 2008 and July 15 2011, The Sun paid £17,475 to Hall, mostly via Bukarewicz, in exchange for the unauthorised disclosure of information.

The information allegedly provided included details relating to the 2010 Budget and the coalition's deficit reduction plans.

During the two-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, the defendants did not enter pleas and spoke only to confirm their dates of birth and addresses.

Hartley, Hall and Bukarewicz were all granted unconditional bail by Chief Magistrate Judge Howard Riddle.

Hall, 52, and Bukarewicz, 44, both from Kentish Town, north London; and Hartley, 38, from Brockley, south-east London, will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on June 6.

The charges were brought as part of Operation Elveden, Scotland Yard's investigation into alleged corrupt payments to public officials by journalists.