CASBURN: SENIOR COP DENIES NOTW PHONE HACKING LEAK

A senior detective denied leaking information about the phone hacking inquiry to the News of the World when she appeared at the Old Bailey today (Fri).

Det Ch Insp April Casburn, 53, who specialised in counter-terrorism, is said to have contacted the now-defunct tabloid before the hacking scandal exploded last year.

She became the first person to be charged under the Met’s Operation Elveden investigation into alleged inappropriate payments by journalists to officials.

The probe is running alongside the Operation Weeting phone-hacking inquiry.

Dressed in a red suit and black and white blouse, Casburn appeared in the dock to deny a single count of misconduct in a public office.

The charge alleges she contacted the NoTW on September 11, 2010.

She is likely to stand trial early next year, though a date and venue have yet to identified.

Casburn is the former head of the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit, which supports some of the most sensitive police inquiries.

She is currently suspended from duty with the Met, but was working for the force’s elite specialist operations wings, whose remit includes counter-terrorism, security at the Houses of Parliament and Royal and diplomatic protection.

She has also held senior posts in the east London boroughs of Hackney and Redbridge.

Casburn of Hatfield Peverel, near Chelmsford in Essex, is on unconditional bail.