Two Sun journalists have gone on trial accused of paying a Surrey police officer for information for stories.
Prosecutors said the officer got about £10,000 over 10 years, and the "corrupt relationship" was based on "tip-offs" on incidents, arrests or celebrities.
The Old Bailey heard the officer was "abusing the trust" placed in him, encouraged by the reporters.
Chris Pharo, 46, and Jamie Pyatt, 52, deny aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office.
The trial stems from the Met Police's Operation Elveden, which is investigating alleged illegal payments to police and other public officials.
'Secret informant'
Opening the case for the prosecution, Julian Christopher QC said Mr Pyatt began paying the officer - who cannot be named for legal reasons - in 2002.
"In short, he became the Sun's secret paid informant within Surrey police," he told the court.
The officer was allegedly paid in cash or by a Thomas Cook money transfer 18 times over a decade.
Mr Christopher said each payment "encouraged the officer to provide further information in the future".
Jamie Pyatt outside the Old Bailey
When Mr Pyatt was first interviewed by police he denied ever paying an officer, the court heard.
"That seems to be a lie," Mr Christopher told the jury, as it was now accepted that payments were made to the officer.
Mr Christopher took the jury through some of the stories published by the Sun that he said had generated a request for payment.
Some of the stories involved celebrities, including an unnamed Chelsea footballer whose house was burgled, and an allegation of assault involving TV and radio presenter Chris Tarrant, the QC said.
'Rape story'
The first was in 2001 when Mr Pyatt is said to have collected £1,500 from a branch of Thomas Cook in Windsor.
The payment was noted as being for "Mick Hucknall rape story" and related to a story in the Sun that the Simply Red singer had been questioned by police in "connection with an allegation of rape".
Mr Pyatt denies the money for this story was paid to the officer. Mr Hucknall faced no charges as a result of the allegations.
Another story, Mr Christopher said, related to a body being found while the murdered Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler was missing in 2002.
The story, headlined "Milly, body found", generated a request for £500 - money the prosecution alleges was paid to the officer.
The jury was told the payment was noted in the Sun's records as being for a "contributor/police officer".
The body turned out not to be the missing girl.
Mr Pyatt, from Windsor in Berkshire, was working as a district reporter when the offences are alleged to have taken place between 2002 and 2011.
Mr Pharo, from Sandhurst in Kent, was the Sun's head of news and Mr Pyatt's boss between 2007 and 2011.
"Not once", the jury was told, did Mr Pharo turn down a request from 2007, or "question whether it was appropriate to pay a police officer".
The trial is expected to last four weeks.
