Police worker admits secrets leak

Mr Lund-Lack was working for the Met's counter-terrorism unit

A civilian police worker has pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office by leaking confidential details on terrorism to a newspaper.

Thomas Lund-Lack, 59, who was working in the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism unit, disclosed a document to a Sunday Times journalist.

An article in April said Iraq-based al-Qaeda leaders were planning UK terror attacks, the Old Bailey heard.

Lund-Lack, of Stowmarket, Suffolk, was bailed and will be sentenced in July.

Edward Henry, defending, said his client, who had a record of exemplary service, was "full of regret".

'Isolated incident'

"To say that he is afflicted with shame is an understatement," he added.

"This is a very, very sad and bizarre, isolated incident."

Prosecutors said Lund-Lack leaked the document because he was "annoyed about the way things were being run" and had hoped to "improve things".

The maximum sentence for the charge of misconduct in a judicial or public office is life.

Judge Justice Gross told him: "One shouldn't for a moment assume that I regard this as anything other than a very serious case indeed."

A further charge against him of breaching the Official Secrets Act was expected to be ordered to lie on file.

The document was an intelligence report produced in April, understood to have been compiled by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre.

The newspaper reported al-Qaeda was planning large-scale attacks on Britain and the West.