BY JAMES SIMONS
A former prison officer from Walthamstow has been jailed for 10 months for selling stories about celebrities to newspapers. Reggie Nunkoo, 41, from Walthamstow, received payments amounting to £1,650 from the Sun and Daily Mirror for information about stars that included George Michael and Jack Tweed- the former boyfriend of late Big brother star, Jade Goody
Nunkoo pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to conspiring to commit misconduct in public office while working at Pentonville Prison. He was prosecuted as part of Operation Elveden, the probe into allegations of inappropriate payments to police and public officials by journalists. Tweed was on remand after being charged with rape when Nunkoo sold a story about him being on suicide watch.
The sentence serves as a stark warning to those who abuse their position in office for financial gain. What is unclear is why no journalist was equally charged since it takes two to tango. His defence lawyer argued that the information Nunkoo handed over was “more salacious gossip that anything that undermines security”. He stated that the former prison officers marriage was in crisis, adding that his wife demanded ” a better lifestyle than he could provide on his wages” However, the presiding Judge, Richard Marks QC insisted that his conduct amounted to a ”flagrant breach” of the terms of his employment and a ”gross breach of trust”.
Journalists, Mr.Millard and Mr. Brough of South west London were cleared of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office after a trial at the old Bailey because they did not believe Nunkoo was a prison officer and he only gave them ”limited information” for the stories. The question is this: if they did not believe he was a prison officer, who did they think he was and how did they trust the credibility of the information they gave him?
The simple fact is that the freedom of expression allows journalist to obtain information that is true and in public interest, so any information given by the former prison officer which was true should be lawful, except where as stated, the terms of his employment clearly forbade him to do this, and he was aware of this or should have been aware of this. Why exactly the journalists were held under scrutiny for pursuing a story they believed to be factual remains unclear. If Jack Tweed was on suicide watch, the public may well deserve to know why he is feeling suicidal.
Another question is why the press are allowed to report on this fact despite a court ruling the conduct unlawful. If both tweed and George Michael were entitled to privacy then, that entitlement should hold now. The fact it was exposed by journalists at the time does not justify a repeat of something unlawful. Detective Supt Gordon Briggs, who leads operation Elvedon said both Nunkoo and Collier leaked confidential information to journalists for their private gain
“When public officials act in this way, they betray the trust placed in them and undermine public confidence, their dishonest actions harm the public interest and merit criminal sanction,”
Well, if the information was private then, it should remain private now. There seems to be a conflict of interest here even in reporting the story now.
