Fake Sheikh Boxed In

As if the revelations contained in the BBC Panorama exposé were not serious enough, matters for Mazher Mahmood, aka the Fake Sheikh, looked set to get a whole lot worse when it was revealed that his football “match fixing” story had collapsed, and thirteen distinctly unhappy players might be descending very soon on Earls Court - not Kensington, as Maz claims - to have a not-so-quiet word with him.

Mazher Mahmood - looking out for a Boxing champ. And his lawyer

That was bad enough, but now it seems that the criminal cases brought using Maz’ evidence, and now under review, include that of former World Boxing Champion Herbie Hide. He was at his peak in the 1990s, and many will have forgotten him, but his story is about to be splashed all over the screen, this time by ITV. What happened to him at the hands of the Fake Sheikh followed an all too familiar path.

Hide, as the BBC told recently, “admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and was originally jailed in November 2013. His sentence was reduced to 18 months before he was released on a tag having served half his sentence”. It was another sting in the long line of drug stings from the Fake Sheikh. As with John Alford, as with Tulisa Contostavlos before the house fell in, the idea was all too familiar.

Hide has always protested his innocence. But now he has got himself lawyered up, and, worse for Maz, the tactics used by his lawyers have failed, just as they did when the BBC was leant on prior to the Panorama broadcast. My information is that attempts have been made on the Fake Sheikh’s behalf to stop the programme going out. ITV have been, if anything, even more dismissive of the attempt than the Beeb.

Why this should be is not hard to deduce: the BBC aired their programme, and there was no legal comeback whatever. Maz is highly likely to have used the same modus operandi when he stung Herbie Hide. And, as Press Gang revealed recently, Maz is rumoured to be back in the saddle at the Sun, despite claims that there has been an internal inquiry into his behaviour which appears not to have reported yet.

All of that means more trouble for the Murdoch press and their allegedly prize asset. What makes Maz’ prospects yet worse is one look at the legal team Hide will be sending in to bat for him, which is just as heavyweight as he was in his heyday. Lewis Nedas Law let it be known at the end of last month that “LNL Instructed by Herbie Hide to Appeal against Fake Sheikh (Mazher Mahmood) ‘Sting’ Conviction”.

Who they? One look at the personnel involved will be causing involuntary bowel movements all over the Murdoch empire: “Siobhain Egan is dealing, and will work with Mark Lewis of Taylor Hampton Solicitors who will deal with civil proceedings for damages”. Cooeee, Murdoch poodles, Mark Lewis is back on your case! Yes, the bloke who has already given the Murdoch empire a very hard time indeed is in Herbie Hide’s corner.

Expect interested parties to be watching ITV news at 1830 hours tomorrow. Popcorn time!