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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Herbie Hide jailed for conspiracy to supply cocaine | Herbie Hide jailed for conspiracy to supply cocaine |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former world champion boxer Herbie Hide has been jailed for 22 months after admitting selling cocaine. | Former world champion boxer Herbie Hide has been jailed for 22 months after admitting selling cocaine. |
| Hide, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine last month after he was filmed by undercover Sun on Sunday reporters setting up a drug deal. | Hide, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine last month after he was filmed by undercover Sun on Sunday reporters setting up a drug deal. |
| Judge Mark Lucraft told Cambridge Crown Court he had reduced the sentence partly because of the "sting element". | Judge Mark Lucraft told Cambridge Crown Court he had reduced the sentence partly because of the "sting element". |
| Ben Sharman, 22, of Howe Lane, Poringland, Norfolk, was also jailed for 20 months for drugs offences. | Ben Sharman, 22, of Howe Lane, Poringland, Norfolk, was also jailed for 20 months for drugs offences. |
| Sharman admitted conspiracy to supply the Class A drug, two counts of offering to supply drugs and an unrelated burglary. | Sharman admitted conspiracy to supply the Class A drug, two counts of offering to supply drugs and an unrelated burglary. |
| Hide, of Bawburgh, near Norwich, held the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) version of the heavyweight title between 1994 and 1999. | |
| He had initially denied conspiracy to supply cocaine, but changed his plea at Norwich Crown Court last month. | |
| During the sentencing hearing, defence lawyers questioned the use of "entrapment" tactics to target Hide | |
| Martin Budworth, mitigating for Hide, said Sun reporter Mazher Mahmood and his assistant had pursued his client "relentlessly" despite his attempts to remove himself from the encounter. | Martin Budworth, mitigating for Hide, said Sun reporter Mazher Mahmood and his assistant had pursued his client "relentlessly" despite his attempts to remove himself from the encounter. |
| A friend of Hide described him in a statement read to court as a "pubescent boy in a grown man's body". | A friend of Hide described him in a statement read to court as a "pubescent boy in a grown man's body". |
| 'Learning difficulties' | |
| "I hesitate to say this, but it is a case of Jekyll and Hyde," said Mr Budworth. | "I hesitate to say this, but it is a case of Jekyll and Hyde," said Mr Budworth. |
| "Far from his public persona, he is a shy man and a vulnerable man and was ripe for the picking by experienced and professional men like Mr Mahmood. | "Far from his public persona, he is a shy man and a vulnerable man and was ripe for the picking by experienced and professional men like Mr Mahmood. |
| "I'm not here to criticise the paper for its conduct, but this is not a case where the Sun has in any way unearthed a massive conspiracy." | |
| Mr Budworth said it was "not a case of crime fighting or exposing a criminal, this was a case of selling newspapers". | Mr Budworth said it was "not a case of crime fighting or exposing a criminal, this was a case of selling newspapers". |
| "If anybody instigated this offence, it was Mr Mahmood and his assistant," he added. | "If anybody instigated this offence, it was Mr Mahmood and his assistant," he added. |
| Hide's adoptive father, Alan Hide, told the court his son had learning difficulties. | |
| 'An isolated incident' | |
| "Once he becomes your friend, he's your friend for life," he said. | |
| Prosecutor Chris Youell described how Mr Mahmood, dubbed the Fake Sheikh because of his technique of acting as a wealthy Arab, originally targeted Hide as part of an investigation into fight fixing. | |
| "Mr Mahmood was effectively a customer being sold drugs for money," he said. | |
| "It was an isolated incident which would not have happened had Mr Mahmood not enticed Mr Hide into doing something illegal." | |
| He added: "The whole thing comes about because of the interest shown by journalists in Mr Hide, in particular because of his local and, to some extent, national celebrity because of his success in the sporting arena. | |
| "At the time he was planning a comeback and was contacted by reporters from The Sun seeking to expose the supposed fact he was prepared to fix fights for money." | |
| Hide met Mr Mahmood, who had adopted his sheikh persona, in a room at the Sprowston Manor Hotel in January. |