A Watford journalist found guilty of paying for tip-offs from an anti-terrorism officer has been spared jail.

Crime reporter Anthony France, 41, of Diamond Road, cultivated a "corrupt relationship" with Pc Timothy Edwards over four years, his trial at the Old Bailey heard.

While working at Heathrow Airport in SO15 counter-terrorism command, Pc Edwards, 49, sold 38 stories and pieces of information to the journalist in exchange for more than £22,000.

During this time, Edwards sold, and France paid for, information which included the personal details of victims of crime obtained by illegally searching police databases. He also sold information he picked up through his job at the airport, either by witnessing events or talking to fellow colleagues.

Yesterday, Mr France was given an 18 month suspended prison sentence.

Last week, he was found guilty of aiding and abetting Pc Edwards to commit misconduct in a public office between March 2008 and July 2011.

Judge Timothy Pontius sentenced him to 18 months suspended for two years, describing him as a journalist of "hitherto unblemished character" who was "essentially a decent man of solid integrity".

He also ordered France to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and awarded prosecution costs of just under £35,000 on the understanding News International would take responsibility and foot the bill.

The judge highlighted the underlying culture of paying people for stories at the Sun, a practice which was "promoted, supported and encouraged" at all levels.

Judge Pontius said he did not doubt that many of the articles France wrote were in the public interest and "in the pursuit of responsible investigative journalism", although a minority were "obviously salacious" and breached privacy.

He said payment for stories went through a clearly recognised and accepted procedure at the Sun and it was not a case of France handing over a "grubby envelope" in a dark corner of a pub.

"The defendant was following an accepted procedure that had existed for some time. He had not recruited Timothy Edwards himself, he had inherited him from a colleague."

On his decision to suspend sentence, Judge Pontius said a journalist should expect a sentence of roughly half that of a public officer because of their lesser role in the misconduct.

But in this case, it would not be in the public interest to jail France, whom he described as "an experienced journalist of hitherto unblemished character ... essentially a decent man of solid integrity and social responsibility".