Former partner of Ecclestone is jailed

A FORMER boyfriend of socialite and model Tamara Ecclestone was jailed for four years for blackmailing the heiress for £200,000.

Derek Rose, 33, who dated the daughter of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2002, was involved in a plot in which it was claimed he was approached to sell his story to a tabloid.

Rose was included in an email discussing “a nonrelease fee” and signing a confidentiality contract.

Judge Andrew Goymer at Southwark Crown Court told him: “This was an audacious attempt to obtain a large sum of money.”

Rose, of Arlington Road, Camden, north London, was found guilty on Monday and sentenced yesterday.

The court heard he dated Ecclestone when she was 17, before changing his name from Jonathan Ketterman.

The blackmail arose from an email sent on November 16, 2011, after Ms Ecclestone had starred in a reality television show exploring her life.

The trial heard the email was sent to elicit money from Ms Ecclestone.