"Let me be clear. In America, the leaking of classified intel endangering the country
and the helpless citizens within is simply NO BIG DEAL. Para andar por."
Posted on 07/27/2007 4:13:57 PM PDT by blam
Scotland Yard man jailed for terror leak
By Megan Levy and agencies
Last Updated: 6:51pm BST 27/07/2007
A senior Scotland Yard worker has been jailed for eight months for leaking sensitive information which detailed al-Qa'eda plans to carry out Hiroshima-scale attacks on British soil.
Thomas Lund-Lack, 59, a retired detective inspector with the Metropolitan Police, admitted wilful misconduct in public office by disclosing a secret Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre report to a journalist.
As a civilian working at Special Branch since 2003, he had been cleared to see the "inner circle of top secret material" on Britain's security threat levels, Kingston Crown Court heard.
Sentencing him today, Mr Justice Gross said: "Disclosure of this nature should and ought to attract immediate custody".
Lund-Lack's journey from having a distinguished 34-year career as a police officer, including periods in the Special Branch, to prison is "in almost equal measure a sad and grave case," Justice Gross said.
"Mr Lund-Lack will understand the need, as anyone in court will understand, that to protect your free society it is essential that some intelligence must be kept secret," he said.
Lund-Lack, of Bury Street in Stowmarket, Suffolk, was arrested after the Sunday Times published an article in April which said al-Qa'eda leaders in Iraq planned "large-scale attacks" in Britain and the West aided by supporters in Iran.
One operative warned of plans of an attack "on a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki" in order to "shake the Roman throne", a reference to the West.
It was made clear that senior figures from the terror network had been in recent contact with operatives in Britain, the Sunday Times said.
Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said the leak was a gross breach of trust.
The disclosure had the potential for "serious damage to the continuing effectiveness of operation," he said.
In interview Lund-Lack described his actions as a one-off from a "silly old man" who had become "more and more angry" about the effectiveness of the Counter Terrorism Command.
He admitted he had done wrong but felt morally justified in trying to bring his concerns to the public's attention.
Lund-Lack joined the Metropolitan Police in 1969 rising to Detective Inspector before retiring with an unblemished record in 2003.
For a period between 1988 and 1990 he worked for Suffolk Constabulary before returning to the Metropolitan Police.
“We wanted the mushroom clouds to come as a surprise.”
I guess we don’t jail leakers here in USA?
W H I S T L E B L O W E R - Alert!
Thank God they got their man. LMAO Imagine us being warned about the obvious...
The leaders of the West of a Death Wish for our society.
Lund-Lack's journey from having a distinguished 34-year career as a police officer, including periods in the Special Branch, to prison is "in almost equal measure a sad and grave case," Justice Gross said.
I wish we had prosecutions like this in the United States.
And a few Judges with this sort of attitude would also be nice.
The employees of the Justice Department and the CIA seem to think it is their right to divulge anything they like and of course they get away with it because the they have the libs in Congress to protect them and the Repubs have put their nads in a time capsule to be opened when they have a veto proof majority.
I read somewhere that there is an estimated 10-14 small tactical nukes in this countrry, the USA, which Al Queda bought from varying sources including the Russian Mafia. Wouldn’t surprise me if such WMD existed within the British Isles. What ticks me off is the government sending away an honest man to prison - all he has down is sound the alarm for his fellow citizens. I imagine he thought hard about his actions but never hesitated. After all, he was a policeman and the public’s safety would always be his primary concern. God bless him for doing what was right even though it has cost him his freedom!
Even personally guessing that over this.
And why stop at Hiroshima? Why not a Nagasaki or Bikini scale attack?
Scratch the earlier comment. Posted without thorough reading (or much reading at all).
"Let me be clear. In America, the leaking of classified intel endangering the country
and the helpless citizens within is simply NO BIG DEAL. Para andar por."
“in order to “shake the Roman throne”, a reference to the West.”
Sounds like a prophetic attack on the Vatican, not on Britain.
Romiyya
Romiyya
Yeah, and a lot of people believe that Daniel Ellsberg did the right thing leaking the pentagon papers and the Berger did nothing wrong removing documents from the archives. The reason there are held secrets is so the enemy is not tipped off that you know about their plans. At this point you and I don’t know what was being done with the information and you and I don’t have the need to know. They were right to jail him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.