Victoria County Court in Melbourne has fired a staff member for allegedly gaining access to restricted information about the charges facing Cardinal George Pell.
Cardinal Pell is to face two separate trials for alleged historical sexual offences but details of the charges have not been made public. He has denied all of the allegations made against him.
On Wednesday, the County Court confirmed a newspaper report by the Herald Sun in Australia that a staff member had been dismissed within the past two weeks for accessing unauthorised information about the charges facing the Vatican’s finance chief. The employee was fired on the same day as the security breach was discovered, the newspaper said.
“The court takes the management and security of information seriously and has systems in place to detect where information is accessed without authority,” the court said in a statement.
“When improper access to information is found to occur, the court takes decisive action. This is exactly what has occurred in this case,” the statement added.
Cardinal Pell's case is due to return to the court on Wednesday, when dates for the trial are to be decided and Chief Justice, Peter Kidd, is due to rule on a blanket media ban requested by prosecutors.
PICTURE: Catholic Cardinal George Pell departs the County Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Wednesday, May 2, 2018. (AAP Image/Daniel Pockett)
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