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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| 'Fake Sheikh' Mazher Mahmood jailed over Tulisa case | 'Fake Sheikh' Mazher Mahmood jailed over Tulisa case |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood, known as the "Fake Sheikh", has been jailed for 15 months for tampering with evidence in a case involving singer Tulisa Contostavlos. | Undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood, known as the "Fake Sheikh", has been jailed for 15 months for tampering with evidence in a case involving singer Tulisa Contostavlos. |
| The reporter, 53, and his driver Alan Smith, 67, were both found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice earlier this month. | The reporter, 53, and his driver Alan Smith, 67, were both found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice earlier this month. |
| Judge Gerald Gordon said Mahmood had wanted to "enhance" his reputation. | Judge Gerald Gordon said Mahmood had wanted to "enhance" his reputation. |
| Smith was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years. | Smith was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years. |
| Immediately after sentence News UK announced that Mahmood - a former News Of The World investigations editor - had been sacked after working for the company for 25 years. | |
| The Fake Sheikh's most famous stings | |
| Following the guilty verdict earlier this month, lawyers announced that 18 other people targeted by Mahmood planned to bring civil claims against him, which could total £800m. | |
| Some of the individuals were convicted of crimes which, they argued at the time, came as the result of false evidence. | |
| After the sentencing hearing, former London's Burning star John Alford, whose case is among those being taken up by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, said: "It's taken over 20 years for some of us, but finally a judge and a jury of our peers has woken up to Mazher Mahmood's lies. | |
| "We would now like to ask Parliament to honour their promise to the British people and implement Leveson part two." | |
| 'Another scalp' | 'Another scalp' |
| Judge Gordon told the pair: "You, Alan Smith, agreed to and did alter your original witness statement to remove the passage that you both realised could be used to support Tulisa Contostavlos's case in an entrapment hearing. | Judge Gordon told the pair: "You, Alan Smith, agreed to and did alter your original witness statement to remove the passage that you both realised could be used to support Tulisa Contostavlos's case in an entrapment hearing. |
| "Mazher Mahmood, it was your idea. You were the intended beneficiary and you made use of a loyal person, partly an employee, in order to achieve your purpose. | "Mazher Mahmood, it was your idea. You were the intended beneficiary and you made use of a loyal person, partly an employee, in order to achieve your purpose. |
| "The motive was to preserve and enhance your reputation. | "The motive was to preserve and enhance your reputation. |
| "You wanted another scalp and Miss Contostavlos's conviction would have achieved that. | "You wanted another scalp and Miss Contostavlos's conviction would have achieved that. |
| "And to achieve that, when you saw a problem, you were prepared for the court to be deceived." | "And to achieve that, when you saw a problem, you were prepared for the court to be deceived." |
| During the trial at London's Old Bailey, the court heard that Miss Contostavlos had been targeted by Mahmood, posing as an influential film producer who wanted her to star in a Hollywood blockbuster. | |
| Mahmood met the singer at the Metropolitan Hotel in London in 2013 and she allegedly arranged for him to be sold half an ounce of cocaine by one of her contacts for £800. | |
| The former N-Dubz star and X Factor judge was later arrested and charged with being concerned in the supply of a class A drug, after Mahmood, from Purley, south London, handed evidence to police. | |
| But her trial was eventually thrown out, the Old Bailey was told, after driver Smith was found to have changed his police statement, removing comments that she made to him expressing her disapproval of hard drugs. | |
| 'Great regret' | |
| A News UK spokesman said: "Mazher was suspended after the Tulisa Contostavlos trial collapsed, pending an internal inquiry. That inquiry was superseded by the criminal process. | |
| "Mazher has led scores of successful investigations during his 25-year career with the company. | |
| "His work has led to the exposure of criminality and wrongdoing. | |
| "It is a source of great regret that his time with the company should end in this manner." | |
| The spokesman said the company was "aware" that the Crown Prosecution Service had reviewed some cases and it said it understood that the Criminal Cases Review Commission was looking at other cases. | |
| "We have noted the threats made after Mazher's conviction of civil claims against this company in relation to his previous work," he said. | |
| "Should such claims be brought, they will be vigorously defended." |