US news anchor guilty of hacking

KYW-TV news anchor Larry Mendte has been sentenced to six months' house arrest for hacking a colleague's email.

The presenter was also given 250 hours community service and a $5,000 (£3,300) fine.

Mendte pleaded guilty to breaking into co-host Alycia Lane's personal account and forwarding information about her to the press.

One leaked message included information about Lane in a bikini, which had been sent to a married ex-colleague.

Lawyers for Lane said her career had been "destroyed" by a "tabloid feeding frenzy".

Speaking about his reasons for hacking the account, Mendte told the court: "My role at the station was still being diminished when Alycia told me... that she was the rising star and that I was '50 and on my way out'.

"I felt I was in trouble. My career, my future, my family's future was in trouble. And, this is where I got into more trouble - federal trouble."

He confessed to breaking into Lane's email hundreds of times before and after she was dismissed by KYW-TV in January. Lane was axed by the station after she was arrested in New York for fighting with police.

The charges were later dropped and she is currently suing the broadcaster for wrongful dismissal.