Sun Journalist 'Treated Like A Murderer'

The Sun's former managing editor Graham Dudman has launched an attack on the Crown Prosecution Service after charges against him of paying cash to public officials were dropped.

Mr Dudman, who now works as the newspaper's editorial development director, was arrested in 2012 as part of Operation Elveden, the police probe launched in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

He was among six journalists from three tabloid newspapers who had not guilty verdicts formally entered at the Old Bailey on Monday.

The other journalists were The Sun's former deputy news editor Ben O'Driscoll, ex-Mirror reporter Greig Box Turnbull, ex-News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson and ex-News of the World journalist Stephen Moyes.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Dudman said investigating officers had treated him "like a terrorist or murderer".

He described the probe, which has cost more than £20m, as a "politically motivated witch-hunt".

"After 1,176 days on bail, including a four-month trial and two not guilty verdicts, the CPS announced it was dropping the remaining two charges against me by sending my solicitor an email," he said.

"How very different from the way it all started.

"In January 2012, somebody decided that I posed such a danger to society that 10 police officers raided my home at dawn in front of my terrified wife and young children.

"They confiscated my passport before locking me in the cell, stripping me of any dignity, and swabbing my mouth for DNA. I was treated like a terrorist or murderer.

"A truly grotesque amount of taxpayers' money has been spent on Operation Elveden.

"Thanks to a combination of a ruling from the Lord Chief Justice and countless jury verdicts, it has now been exposed for what it is - a politically motivated witch-hunt against tabloid journalism.

"How can it possibly be right that the squad investigating journalists for publishing true stories in the public interest was allocated twice the number of detectives than a murder squad?

"Somebody somewhere got their priorities horribly wrong."

The decision to scrap all but three journalists' trials has led to fierce criticism of the Elveden probe.

The investigation has thus far failed to result in the successful conviction of a single reporter following a trial.

Mr Box Turnbull was due to go on trial for allegations of paying a prison officer for stories. He said he felt "completely vindicated" after the CPS dropped its "ill-conceived case".

He added that his feelings were tempered by the decision to go ahead with cases against three journalists and a number of public officials.

He called for a public inquiry into the Metropolitan Police's use of public money for the probe.

"Operation Elveden has been a vicious assault on public interest journalism and press freedom by the Met Police and the CPS," he said.

"Nearly three years ago I became the first reporter to be arrested from Trinity Mirror, as Rupert Murdoch's betrayal of journalists and their sources crossed over into a second news organisation.

"However, I remained steadfast in my total conviction that, at all times, I had done my job professionally and lawfully as a hard-working journalist in accordance with the PCC Code of Conduct."