A former prison officer has pleaded guilty to selling stories to tabloid newspapers about James Bulger killer Jon Venables – despite having an earlier conviction quashed in the Court of Appeal.
Scott Chapman, 44, of Corby, Northamptonshire, was due for retrial at the Old Bailey but at the 11th hour he admitted the charge of misconduct in a public office between March 1 2010 and June 20 2011.
While working at HMP Woodhill, Chapman was paid £40,000 for 46 articles by a range of newspapers including the News of the World.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey last year, he was found guilty along with ex-News of the World reporter Lucy Panton and his ex-partner Lynn Gaffney and jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Their convictions were quashed at the Court of Appeal in the spring because the original trial judge “misdirected” the jury.
While Ms Panton and Ms Gaffney’s cases were later dropped following a Crown Prosecution Service review, Chapman was ordered to face retrial.
On Monday, Chapman asked for an indication from Judge Richard Marks QC of the maximum sentence if he admitted the charge.
The judge told him he could reduce the jail term to a maximum of two-and-a-half years.
He said: “This is obviously a quite serious case of cases of this sort because there are 46 articles involved and a not insubstantial amount of pay of £40,000.
“Against that background, taking account of everything I have read, plainly it would inevitably follow the defendant would have to be returned to custody.
“The maximum sentence which I am asked to indicate in my judgment would be in the order of two-and-a-half years.”
The court heard the three-and-a-half months Chapman has already served would count towards the new sentence, which will be handed down later.
Read more: latest updates from the trial on our live feed here
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/