A PRISON officer was challenged in court about whether he felt a "tweak of conscience" about making thousands of pounds from newspapers in exchange for "drivel" about James Bulger's killer Jon Venables.

Scott Chapman, 42, was allegedly paid £40,000 for a number of stories about the child killer's time behind bars after he was jailed for child porn offences in 2010.

He said he initially contacted The Sun because he felt Venables was being treated as a special case, the Old Bailey, London, heard.

He later fed stories to journalists from other papers, including Tom Savage from the Daily Star Sunday, and a News Of The World reporter, who cannot be named.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees, QC, pointed out to Chapman there were various text messages to a Sun reporter asking about money. Mr Rees asked: "At any stage did you have a tweak of conscience - 'This is not right, I'm being paid all this money for all this drivel in the papers?"'

Chapman replied: "I cannot recall. There was a lot going on in my life."

Chapman, and his former partner Lynn Gaffney, 40, of Corby, Northamptonshire, deny misconduct in a public office.

Savage, 37, of London, and the News Of The World journalist, deny conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office.