JUDGE FREES PEER CAUGHT IN TABLOID DRUG STING

A hereditary peer who supplied drugs to a News of the World journalist
disguised as a wealthy Arab businessman walked free from court yesterday
after a jury said he had been the victim of entrapment.

The 10th Earl of Hardwicke, 29, who had boasted about his use of cocaine and
had been videotaped snorting the drug, was found guilty of supplying cocaine
to Mazher Mahmood, the News of the World's investigations editor. The earl's
business partner, Stefan Thwaites, was also convicted.

But, in a highly unusual move, the jury gave a note to the judge saying they
would have acquitted the two men if the law had enabled them to take into
account the "extreme provocation" they had been under. The jury took almost
eight hours to reach a guilty verdict.

Judge Timothy Pontius gave the two men suspended prison sentences and told
them they could have been jailed for four years if it had not been for the
jury's submission. He said he had read the jury's note as a "plea... to
exercise particular mercy".

He added: "I have concluded with some degree of hesitation that the
circumstances are, by virtue of the jury's clearly stated views, so
exceptional that I am justified in suspending the operation of the prison
sentences." Hardwicke was sentenced to two years suspended, and Thwaites 15
months suspended. The pair will appeal against their convictions.

Expressing concern about techniques used by journalists, Judge Pontius said:
"Journalists in general, and those involved in this case in particular,
should carefully examine and consider their approach to investigations where
it involves no police participation, or indeed until after the trap has been
sprung and the story reported in the press."

Alun Jones, QC, Hardwicke's barrister, told the judge that he intended to
appeal against the pair's conviction. He said: "It has been our
submission... that the conduct of Mr Mahmood backed by the editorial policy
of the News of the World and approved, he says, right to the top of the
Murdoch organisation... necessarily and deliberately involves serious
breaches of the criminal law.

"One can scour the Misuse of Drugs Act and not find any allowance for any
private person to encourage another person to supply drugs.

"It is extraordinary if a commercial organisation is permitted to do this.
They would not be permitted to encourage another person to rape someone,
attack someone or to steal from someone. I submit it is something that has
got to be examined more widely."

Hardwicke is the latest in a string of aristocratic and showbusiness figures
who have been controversially exposed by newspapers for using or selling
cocaine. News of the World scalps include Tom Parker Bowles, the son of
Camilla, Johnnie Walker, the Radio 2 DJ, and Richard Bacon, the former Blue
Peter presenter.

Earlier this year the London's Burning actor John Alford was jailed after he
also fell victim to the "cocaine sting" when Mr Mahmood again disguised
himself as an Arab prince wanting drugs.

In 1997 the Mirror was accused of entrapment when William Straw, the son of
Jack Straw, the home secretary, sold cannabis to investigative reporter Dawn
Alford.

The News of the World yesterday stood by the methods it uses to expose drug
dealing, saying they were aimed at "one of the greatest social evils in
Britain".

A statement added: "Against this backdrop the News of the World has no
hesitation in investigating and exposing ruthless and habitual drug peddlers
who break the law with arrogant impunity, threatening society and bringing
misery and death to their victims."

The court had heard how a man claiming to represent a wealthy Middle Eastern
businessman had visited a motorcycle franchise in south London owned by
Hardwicke and Thwaites last year with the promise of making a large order.
They later met at the Savoy Hotel in London where Mr Mahmood and another
journalist were disguised in Arab robes.

The court heard how Hardwicke said: "Come on, bring on the charlie
[cocaine]. I want a big fat line. I am going to have the biggest line I have
had in my life and then be sick."

The judge said the video footage of the men's behaviour in the Savoy Hotel
showed their "lifestyle regularly involved the use of cocaine as a readily
acceptable social accessory".

Hardwicke, who became the youngest member of the House of Lords when he took
his seat in 1993, inherited his title at the age of three after the death of
his grandfather. The court heard how, during a debate on the future of the
Lords last year, he had expressed the view that having someone as young as
himself was good for the house's image.

In the note, read out by the judge, the jury said: "The jury would like to
say that the circumstances surrounding this case have made it difficult for
us to reach a decision. Had we been allowed to take the extreme provocation
into account we would have undoubtedly have reached a different verdict."