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When three men walked free from the Old Bailey yesterday, cleared of terrorism charges, it was a moment of truth for News of the World reporter Mazher Mahmood (right), better known as "the Fake Sheikh".
For 15 years he has mounted "stings" against the rich and silly, and the desperate and gullible. The rich and silly he hopes to lull into destructive indiscretions - the Countess of Wessex and Sven Goran Erikson both opened their mouths and blabbed; the desperate and gullible he hopes to have dispatched to jail.
He has been responsible for genuine scoops - after one Mahmood piece London’s Burning actor John Alford was jailed for drug dealing - and the NoW claimed yesterday that his stories had led to 200 convictions down the years. However, Mahmood now seems increasingly to stray beyond legitimate
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| Mahmood was accused of being ‘highly intelligent but deceitful, ruthless, exploitative and corrupt’ |
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journalistic subterfuge into the shark-infested territory of entrapment. The question has become: would there have been a crime to prosecute if Mahmood and the NoW had not turned up?
Petty criminals are aware that the NoW pays big money for scoops. In 2002 the case against men accused of plotting to kidnap Victoria Beckham collapsed when it was revealed that Mahmood's main informant had been paid £10,000. In the present case, which involved an accusation that the defendants were seeking to buy "red mercury" (a non-existent substance - see Robert Matthews), a defence lawyer accused Mahmood of an "egotistical obsession", adding that he is "charismatic and highly intelligent but dangerously deceitful, ruthless, exploitative and corrupt".
Surely Mahmood is now fatally holed below the waterline. Future juries will no more believe him than ought potential victims. In the meantime, if a man dressed unconvincingly as a sheikh offers you a deal, any deal, just close the door. 
FIRST POSTED JULY 26, 2006
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