‘Fake Sheikh’ undercover reporter suspended by The Sun.
The trial of N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos has been thrown out of court after the judge said there were “strong grounds to believe” that Mazher Mahmood – dubbed the ‘Fake Sheikh’ because of his fondness for posing as a wealthy sheikh – had lied at an earlier hearing.
The X-Factor judge was accused of brokering a cocaine deal for Mahmood – who had posed as a wealthy film producer in an undercover sting for The Sun on Sunday – by setting him up with rapper Mike GLC.
The judge, Alistair McCreath, told the jury that the case “cannot go any further” because there were “strong grounds to believe” that Mahmood had lied at a hearing before the trial started.
Contostavlos denied brokering the deal, which was exposed in the Sun on Sunday last June. Mike GLC – whose real name is Michael Coombs – pleaded guilty before the start of the trial but also walked free after judge said the case cannot proceed against him.
Explaining his decision to the jury, the judge said: “Occasionally – very rarely – circumstances may arise in which a court has to say that whatever apparent merits a prosecution may have, the court cannot allow the prosecution case to be taken forward to trial.”
He said that the court “cannot allow itself to be party to improper conduct”, adding: “Where there has been some aspect of the investigation or prosecution of a crime which is tainted in some way by serious misconduct to the point that the integrity of the court would be compromised by allowing the trial to go ahead, in that sense the court would be seen to be sanctioning or colluding in that sort of behaviour, then the court has no alternative but to say, ‘this case must go no further’.”
The collapse of the case rested on Mahmood’s evidence about a statement given to police by a driver who picked up Contostavlos from a London hotel in May last year. The driver had initially suggested he had heard Contostavlos talking disapprovingly about drugs but “changed his mind” after a conversation with the undercover reporter, the court heard.
The judge said Mahmood gave answers which were “entirely inconsistent” when he gave evidence at the trial last week.
Reading a statement outside Southwark Crown Court, Contostavlos said the case had been a “horrific and disgusting entrapment” by Mahmood and The Sun on Sunday newspaper.
“Mahmood has now been exposed by my lawyers openly lying to the judge and jury. These lies were told to stop crucial evidence going before the jury, ” she said. [via Guardian]
