THE EARL AND THE SHEIK

Your report into the investigative techniques of our investigations editor,
Mazher Mahmood, claimed that the defendants at the trial, the Earl of
Hardwicke and his co-defendant, Stefan Thwaites, had "walked free from
Blackfriars crown court... after the jury complained that the men had been
subjected to extreme provocation" (The sheik unveiled, October 4).

Anyone reading the article would assume that these two defendants walked
free from court without a stain on their character. The facts are that the
jury convicted both defendants of supplying cocaine, the Earl of Hardwicke
receiving a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years, and Stefan
Thwaites a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, a fact your
report wholly fails to recognise.

Phil Hall
Editor, News of the World