News man leaked rival's 'anchorbabe' emails

A FORMER US TV news presenter hacked into the email of a younger rival dubbed "anchorbabe" and leaked gossip about her to the press.

Larry Mendte, 51, who is married, admitted hacking into co-presenter Alycia Lane's email hundreds of times before and after she was sacked by KYW-TV in January following a late-night scuffle with New York police.

He was sentenced in a Philadelphia court to three years' probation, including six months' house arrest.

The personal emails of Ms Lane, 36 were leaked to the US media, including a bikini photo of herself she sent to a married former colleague. During the hearing Mr Mendte, who was fired in June, was said to be jealous of his colleague's bigger salary. "Alycia told me she was the rising star and that I was '50 and on my way out'," he said.

"I was in trouble. My career, my future, my family's future was in trouble."