Two men have been sentenced after having been convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Today, 21 October, at the Old Bailey, Mazher Mahmood, 53 (16.03.63) of Purley, Croydon was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment. The judge ordered him to serve half his sentence before being released on licence. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30,000.

Alan Smith, 67 (30.06.49) of Dereham, Norfolk was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

The case arose out of allegations of perjury during the trial of Tulisa Contostavlos. The court heard Mahmood and Smith agreed to change the content of the latter’s draft statement with the intention of disadvantaging Contostavlos in the defence of the case against her.

Mr Smith had initially given a truthful statement to police, however the timing and sequence of phone and email contact between the defendants indicated that Mahmood was involved in Smith’s account being changed. Mahmood then sought to conceal the contact he had with Smith when giving evidence. Both men then destroyed or deleted potentially incriminating evidence.

The investigation was carried out by the Met’s Special Enquiry Team. The two men were found guilty on 5 October after a two-week trial.

Officer in the case, Detective Constable Jim Morrison from the Met’s Special Enquiry Team, said:

“This case is a reminder that perverting the course of justice is a very serious offence that goes to heart of our justice system. We will always take action where statements or other evidence have been tampered with.”