‘Fake Sheikh’ Mazhar Mahmood sentenced to 15 months

LONDON: British Pakistani journalist ‘Fake Sheikh’ Mazhar Mahmood has been sentenced to 15 months in prison by a local court here on Friday.

On October 05, Mahmood was found guilty of tampering with evidence in pop star Tulisa Contostavlos’s trial at the Old Bailey.

Following a two-week trial at the Old Bailey, the 53-year-old undercover reporter and his driver, Alan Smith, 67, were found guilty of plotting to subvert the course of justice through a conspiracy.

The pair conspired to suppress evidence in the former N-Dubz star's trial, which was thrown out at Southwark Crown Court in July 2014. The jury deliberated for two days in the case and then returned the ‘guilty’ verdict. After the guilty verdict was announced, a lawyer for 18 people, who claimed they were victims of Mahmood's investigations, revealed they plan to pursue him in civil claims which could top £800 million.

The case was brought against Mahmood after Tulisa was accused of arranging for him to sell £800 cocaine by one of her contacts following an elaborate sting for the Sun on Sunday newspaper in May 2013.

During a meeting at the Metropolitan Hotel in London, Mahmood posed as a film producer and plied Miss Contostavlos with alcohol as they discussed an acting role alongside Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Later on when Smith drove the former X Factor judge home to Hertfordshire, she allegedly spoke about a family member who had a drugs problem. When he was interviewed by police about the journey more than a year later, Smith, of Dereham, Norfolk, recalled the conversation and informed the police that the pop star made anti-drugs comments.

But a day later, after speaking to Mahmood and emailing his draft statement, the singer's anti-drugs comments were removed, the court heard.

At a pre-trial hearing, Mahmood denied the allegations or that he discussed the drugs conversation with Smith. But when he was questioned at length in the trial, Mahmood appeared to concede he had talked to Smith about what Miss Contostavlos said about drugs in the car. Neither defendant gave evidence but it was said on Mahmood's behalf that there had been a “misunderstanding” of his evidence as he was “steamrollered” with multi-faceted questions.

Defence lawyer John Kelsey-Fry QC told jurors: “Mr Mahmood is not a policeman. He is a journalist. Whilst the prosecution may say he boasts of the number of convictions resulting from his work, securing convictions is not actually his job.”

He said Mahmood's whole investigation was about exposing the pop star's private face “smoking weed” and “arranging cocaine for mates” set against her public persona as a “role model”.

Smith's lawyer, Trevor Burke QC, challenged jurors to try to remember, as his client had done conversations and events a year earlier.

Mazhar Mahmood had six years ago trapped Pakistani players Salman Butt, Muhammad Amir and Muhammad Asif, with help from cricket agent Mazhar Majeed, in the spot fixing scandal that rocked Pakistani cricket.