BRITAIN: The trial of five men charged in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap the singer Victoria Beckham collapsed yesterday.
The case was thrown out at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court, central London, after the crown prosecution service said the evidence of a key witness was unreliable. The witness was a 27-year-old Kosovan, who was paid by the News of the World, the court heard.
At yesterday's hearing Judge Simon Smith said he was referring the matter to the attorney general and that the case highlighted the detrimental effect of offering money for stories.
The four Romanians and one Kosovan Albanian were accused of plotting the abduction on or before November 2nd last year.
The man paid by the newspaper was named as Mr Florim Gashi, who the court heard had been in financial difficulties. Evidence was heard that the newspaper paid £10,000 to Mr Gashi, a convicted criminal.
Judge Smith said: "I am minded to refer the whole of this matter to the attorney general to consider the temptations to which money being offered in return for stories, in particular about celebrities, give rise to - and the way in which newspaper investigations may have a detrimental effect on - the ultimate court proceedings." Prosecutor Mr Brian Altman told the court the Beckhams had been told about the decision and that they understood the reasons for it.