London - Detectives charged a former reporter from Rupert Murdoch's Sun tabloid with hacking computers on Monday, the first charges to result from a wider investigation into allegations journalists illegally accessed computer data.
Ben Ashford, 34, is accused of one offence of possession of criminal property and one of unauthorised access to computer material, London police said.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' court on October 15.
Ashford is the first person to be charged under “Operation Tuleta”, an investigation into alleged computer hacking and other criminal breaches of privacy which is running alongside two other police inquiries into claims of phone-hacking and illegal payments to public officials.
Dozens of journalists and senior staff from the British newspaper arm of Murdoch's News Corp have been arrested over the latter allegations, while 21 people have been held as part of the Tuleta inquiry. - Reuters