British authorities say a former undercover journalist has been charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the drugs trial of pop star Tulisa Contostavlos.
The Crown Prosecution Service said on Tuesday that Mazher Mahmood is alleged to have misled the court during the singer’s trial on a charge of helping to supply cocaine, which collapsed in July last year.
She was charged after the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun on Sunday published a story saying it caught the former X-factor judge acting as a go-between in a deal to sell cocaine to a reporter posing as a producer offering her a film role.
The “producer” was Mahmood, known as the “Fake Shaikh”, because of his record of setting up stings while disguised as a wealthy Arab.
Mahmood denies the charge.
