The names of journalists who paid for illegally-obtained private information look set to be publicly released after a legal judgment released today.

The Upper Tribunal at the Royal Courts of Justice has rejected an appeal by the Information Commissioner’s Office which has sought to keep secret the names of 305 journalists who bought information from ‘blagger’ Steve Whittamore.

The ICO gathered the journalists’ names as part of its Operation Motorman investigation into private investigator Steve Whittamore in 2003.