Civil servant fined for losing documents

LONDON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A British civil servant who left secret reports on a commuter train was fined Tuesday for breaking the nation's Official Secrets Act.

Richard Jackson appeared in Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the Daily Mail reported. He admitted the violation and was ordered to pay 2,500 pounds ($4,000).

The documents were a seven-page report on "al-Qaida vulnerabilities" and a critical assessment of Iraqi security services. They also included the names of top officers in the British security services.

They were left on a train between London and the Surrey suburbs in June and turned over to a BBC correspondent by the finder.

Officials can carry documents on public transport but only in locked briefcases with the key kept in the owner's pocket. They are not supposed to read classified material in public.

District Judge Timothy Workman said he decided to let Jackson off with a fine because he had been assured there was little risk of any actual harm to national security.

"Had there been real risks to national security a custodial sentence, possibly suspended, would have been inevitable," Workman said.