16/01/03 - Hooded informant
earned thousands from Sophie murder
Daily Post Liverpool
A MAN who sold confidential details of Sophie Hook's
killer to a journalist wanted thousands more for a photograph
of her murderer Howard Hughes, a court was told yesterday.
The man met reporter Andy Russell, who worked for the
now closed Today newspaper in 1995, on the promenade
in Colwyn Bay in the autumn that year. Preston Crown
Court heard the man sold Mr Russell medical and psychological
reports of killer Howard Hughes, similar to reports
owned by North Wales police, for £5,000.
Also in the autumn of 1995, Today photographer Paul
Cousins met a man in a cafe in Chester who sold him
a photograph of Howard Hughes taken in custody which
had not been released by North Wales Police. Both journalists
said they could not identify the man who sold them the
material. The photograph and extracts from the report
were printed in The Sun at the end of the Hughes trial
in July 1996. Mr Russell and Mr Cousins had moved from
Today to The Sun when Today folded in November 1995.
PC David Gardner, of North Wales Police, who lives
at Llanwrst Road, Colwyn Bay, pleads not guilty to two
counts of corruption for supplying the press with a
photograph for cash and documents for £5,000.
His brother Geoffrey, also of North Wales Police, was
involved in the Hughes investigation and was the Hook
family liaison officer. On July 15, 1996, the trial
judge lifted reporting restrictions enabling the press
to print photos of Hughes, which they did the following
day. Further details appeared on July 19.
North Wales Police press officer at the time of the
murder, Llinos Roberts, told the court they were preparing
a press pack to release after Hughes had been sentenced.
Jennifer Kershaw QC, prosecuting, said there was no
blame on the press because they were entitled to publish
following the lifting of the order.
Mrs Roberts told the court: ``There was concern how
that photograph got to the press because it had been
taken in custody when Hughes was arrested. There was
no issue as to whether they could publish it but as
to where they got it from.''
Mr Russell and Mr Cousins were then contacted by North
Wales Police detective superintendent Colin Edwards,
who led the investigation. Mr Russell told the court
he met an informant on the promenade in Colwyn Bay.
When they met the informant gave him documents which
he used in an article after Hughes was convicted and
for which he paid £5,000. Mr Russell said: ``The
only thing I can remember about him was a green anorak
or rainproof coat. He kept the hood up the whole time.''
The informant never said where the documents were from.
The court also heard Mr Cousins obtained a photograph
of Howard Hughes between his arrest and the closure of
Today. Mr Cousins met a man in a Chester cafe to buy the
picture for £3,000 or £4,000, a figure arranged
by his boss. He received a colour picture and another
document. He confirmed it was the same photograph which
appeared in The Sun on July 16, 1996. The trial continues.
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