Undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood, known as the “Fake Sheikh”, has been jailed for 15 months for tampering with evidence in the collapsed drug trial of singer Tulisa Contostavlos.
The reporter, 53, and his driver Alan Smith, 67, were both found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice by changing a police statement.
The two were convicted of conspiring to suppress evidence in the trial of the former N-Dubz singer and X-Factor judge, which was thrown out at Southwark crown court in July 2014.
Smith was sentenced to 12 months, suspended for two years.
Immediately after the sentencing News UK announced that Mahmood – a former News Of The World investigations editor – had been terminated after working with the company for 25 years.
However, a company spokesman said any civil claims brought against the company over Mahmood’s past work would be “vigorously defended”.
