THE FATHER of murdered Southampton schoolgirl Hannah Foster has defended one of the six journalists on trial for paying public officials for stories.

Trevor Foster, whose daughter Hannah was killed by Maninder Pal Singh Kohli in 2003, hailed the integrity and work of Sun reporter Jamie Pyatt and praised him for helping to bring her killer to justice.

Pyatt is one of six journalists and editors on trial for conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office by paying sources, who were public officials, for information.

He is in the dock at Kingston Crown Court with former deputy news editor Ben O'Driscoll, the paper's former managing editor Graham Dudman, head of news Chris Pharo, reporter John Troup and picture editor John Edwards who all face similar corruption charges.

Pyatt flew to India to help the search for Kohli, keeping the Foster family informed of developments and advising them to make a public appeal for information.

In a character reference read out to the court, Mr Foster said that he remembered the moment his daughter's killer was convicted, seeing Pyatt welling up in court before giving him a “thumbs up” sign.

He added: “The man is genuine, the man has integrity, the man has my trust, and I will always have him on my team.”

The body of 17-year-old Hannah was found at the side of Allington Lane, in West End, two days after she vanished after a night out.

Kohli was arrested by Hampshire police in his native India in July 2004 and was extradited to the UK to face charges of raping and murdering Hannah.

Kohli was found guilty by a jury at Winchester Crown Court and jailed for a minimum of 24 years.

Pyatt was the Sun's Thames Valley reporter and told the court earlier that payments to police officers and other public officials were common knowledge among journalists and senior editors at the daily tabloid.

He has admitted making 24 cash payments to a police officer and a Broadmoor Hospital healthcare assistant in exchange for leaks over the course of a decade.

But he denies conspiring to commit misconduct in public office by paying those sources for stories that were published in the Sun.

He told jurors that he made no attempt to hide the payments to both officials as they had made the initial approach to the paper's newsdesk.

Pyatt gave evidence earlier that O'Driscoll and Pharo both knew he had paid sources who were public officials, and said he kept them both informed of his meetings.

But O'Driscoll told the court: “It pains me greatly, but Mr Pyatt was not telling the truth.”