Police employee leaked terrorism report

A CIVILIAN police employee from Stowmarket has admitted misconduct in a public office by leaking an intelligence report on terrorism.

Thomas Lund-Lack, 59, of Bury Street, was working in Scotland Yard's Special Operations section in the Counter Terrorism Command when he disclosed documents to a journalist.

Yesterday he admitted misconduct in public office when he appeared at the Old Bailey.

The leaked report formed the basis for a Sunday Times article published on April 22.

It warned that al-Qaida leaders in Iraq, backed by supporters in Iran, were planning large-scale attacks on Britain and the West, according to the paper.

One operative was said to have warned that he was planning an attack "on a par with Hiroshima and Nagasaki" in an attempt to "shake the Roman throne,' a reference to the West.

Another feared plot could be timed to coincide with the stepping down of Prime Minister Tony Blair, or what al-Qaida planners called a "change in the head of the company,' according to the newspaper.

The intelligence report was produced in April and made clear that senior figures from the terror network had been in recent contact with operatives in Britain, the Sunday Times said.

It was said to have been a quarterly review of the international terror threat to Britain, compiled by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre.

Lund-Lack was bailed and sentencing was adjourned until the end of July.

But the judge, Mr 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 second charge of making a damaging disclosure under the Official Secrets Act is expected to lie on file.

Edward Henry, defending, said his client was "bewildered and full of regret', adding: "To say that he is afflicted with shame is an understatement.'