Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Fake sheikh jailed for 15 months

British journalist Mazher Mahmood, renowned for his “fake sheikh” undercover sting operations for media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids, was jailed for 15 months today for tampering with evidence in a high-profile trial.

Mahmood, 53, whose elaborate disguises have duped criminals, celebrities, and even royalty, plotted to get his driver to change a police statement during the drugs prosecution of Tulisa Contostavlos, a singer and former judge of the British version of the “X Factor” TV talent show.


Contostavlos had been about to go on trial accused of supplying cocaine for Mahmood, the self-styled “King of the Sting”, as he posed as an influential Indian film producer while working on an exclusive story for the Sun on Sunday paper.

The conviction is set to ruin the career of Mahmood, one of Britain’s best-known undercover journalists. News UK, Murdoch’s UK newspaper arm, said it had sacked him.

Some 18 individuals caught out by Mahmood’s stings are planning to take civil action against him and lawyers are reviewing cases in which his evidence had led to successful criminal prosecutions.

“Mazher has led scores of successful investigations during his 25-year career with the company,” a News UK spokesman said, adding any legal claims would be “vigorously defended”.

“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.”

Prosecutors said Mahmood got his driver, Alan Smith, to change a statement he gave to detectives which would have made Contostavlos’s conviction less likely by supporting her case that she was a victim of

entrapment. Her trial collapsed in July 2014 after questions arose about Smith’s evidence.

Earlier this month both men were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at London’s Old Bailey court and on Friday Mahmood was jailed for 15 months while Smith was given a suspended 12-month prison term.

Mahmood made his name at Murdoch’s News of the World, which was closed in 2011 after it was revealed senior journalists had been hacking voicemails on mobile phones to get stories.

He carried out the undercover inquiry which led to the 2011 conviction of three Pakistani cricketers for taking bribes to fix incidents in a match against England and also duped Sophie, Countess of Wessex, wife of Queen Elizabeth’s youngest son Prince Edward, in 2001 when he posed as an Arab sheikh.

But other stings have led to prosecutions which collapsed, including the case against five men accused of plotting to kidnap singer-turned-designer Victoria Beckham in 2002.

More For You

Air India

The Amritsar-Birmingham and Amritsar-London Gatwick routes will each increase from three to four weekly flights, while Ahmedabad-London Gatwick will go from three to five weekly flights.

Air India to increase flights between UK and India from March 30

AIR INDIA will increase flight frequencies on key routes as part of its Northern Summer schedule, effective 30 March 2025.

In the UK, the airline will add three more flights on the Delhi-London Heathrow route, increasing from 21 to 24 weekly flights using a mix of A350-900 and upgraded B787-9 aircraft.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pablo-Escobar-merchandise-Getty

Escobar, killed by security forces in 1993, remains a figure of global interest, with his image appearing on souvenirs like T-shirts, mugs, and keychains. (Photo: Getty Images)

Colombia considers ban on Pablo Escobar merchandise

COLOMBIA’s Congress is considering a bill that would ban the sale of merchandise featuring drug lord Pablo Escobar and other convicted criminals.

The proposed law aims to curb the glorification of Escobar, who was responsible for thousands of deaths during his time leading the Medellín cartel, reported BBC.

Keep ReadingShow less
Assisted dying bill: Judge approval scrapped for expert panel safeguard

Polls show most Britons back assisted dying, with supporters calling for the law to reflect public opinion.

Assisted dying bill: Judge approval scrapped for expert panel safeguard

Eastern Eye

THE proposed new assisted dying law for terminally ill people will be amended to remove the requirement that a high court judge sign off on each case, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said on Tuesday (11).

Opponents of assisted dying said the change would weaken the safeguards around protecting vulnerable people from being coerced or pressured into taking their own lives.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Malkinson

Malkinson, 59, has been struggling financially since his release and has been on universal credit for 19 months. (Photo: X/@NotThatBigIan)

Wrongful rape conviction: Andrew Malkinson to get 'significant' compensation

ANDREW MALKINSON, who spent 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, will receive a six-figure interim compensation payment from the Ministry of Justice.

The payment comes more than a year after his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in July 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less
IMF team visits Pakistan to assess governance and corruption reforms

The assessment will shape structural reforms and examine protections for property rights and foreign investments

IMF team visits Pakistan to assess governance and corruption reforms

Eastern Eye

A TECHNICAL team from the International Monetary Fund met Pakistan’s chief justice Yahya Afridi on Tuesday (11) to conduct a Governance and Corruption Diagnostic Assessment under the 2024 Extended Fund Facility programme.

The IMF team is in the country for a week-long trip to scrutinise the judicial and regulatory framework tackling governance and corruption as part of a £5.6 billion loan agreed last year.

Keep ReadingShow less