Celebrities’ delight as Fake Sheikh is jailed for 15 months
DISGRACED celebrities targeted by the undercover journalist known as the Fake Sheikh shouted ‘your turn now’ as he was jailed yesterday. Mazher Mahmood was sentenced to 15 months in prison after plotting to stitch up pop star Tulisa Contostavlos.
There were shouts of ‘your turn now Mazher’ and ‘enjoy it’ from the public gallery at the Old Bailey. Former London’s Burning actor John Alford, 44, who was jailed for supplying cocaine after being targeted by Mahmood, 53, was among a number of celebrities at the hearing.
The former News of the World reporter was convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice after he persuaded his driver, Alan Smith, to change a witness statement and then lied in court as Miss Contostavlos faced a drugs trial.
The Old Bailey heard Mahmood had done ‘some good work’ in his long career pursuing organised criminals, crooked lawyers and hypocrite stars.
But Judge Gerald Gordon said there could be no justification for his actions, which were an attack on the integrity of the justice system. He told Mahmood: ‘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.’
Smith, 67, was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years, for his ‘misguided loyalty’ in agreeing to change his account of a conversation with Miss Contostavlos. Both men denied conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
The journalist’s lawyer, John Kelsey-Fry QC, said his client stood before the court as a ‘very frightened man’. He said: ‘He is not expecting to be the most popular inmate in prison.’
It was suggested that up to 72 defendants in criminal cases in which Mahmood played a role could apply for convictions to be quashed. He is also threatened by civil lawsuits from those he brought down, with suggestions the claims could reach £800million.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Mr Alford accused Mahmood of manipulating and concealing video footage in his case. ‘There are many more questions to be answered,’ he said.
A spokesman for News UK, publisher of the now defunct News of the World, said other criminal cases were tested in court and that the company has yet to receive any civil claims over his work.