A Sun journalist and a press officer for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will be charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office over alleged inappropriate payments, prosecutors have said.
The tabloid’s Whitehall editor Clodagh Hartley and Jonathan Hall from HMRC are both facing charges, along with Mr Hall’s partner Marta Bukarewicz, who is not a public official, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
It is alleged that between March 30 2008 and July 15 2011 The Sun newspaper paid £17,475 to Jonathan Hall, mostly via Marta Bukarewicz, in exchange for the unauthorised disclosure of information.
The information that was allegedly provided included details relating to the 2010 Budget and the coalition’s deficit reduction plans.
Hall, 51, and Bukarewicz, 44, both from Kentish Town, north London; and Hartley, 38, from Brockley, south east London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 29.
