Royal 'Blackmail' Plot Sting "Was An Abject Failure"
Written by Joanne Leyland
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
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The defence at the Old Bailey trial of the men accused
of blackmailing a junior royal has told the jury that the sting
operation which led to the arrest of the two defendants was an "abject failure".
Giving evidence from behind a screen, an unidentified police
officer who played a pivotal role in last
September’s sting operation was accused of not having elicited enough
information - and therefore not enough evidence of guilt - from the
alleged blackmailers, Ian Strachan
and Sean McGuigan during the meeting at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel in London.
It’s alleged that the defendants met what they believed to be the aide to the
junior royal – referred to in court as ‘Witness A’ – in the hope of receiving
£50,000.
However, the 'royal aide' was in fact an undercover police officer, referred to in court by the pseudonym of 'Paul Butler'.
The £50,000 was allegedly demanded in exchange for a tape in which it’s
alleged an aide ('Witness D') claimed that the married royal ('Witness A') had performed a gay sex
act on him.
A secondary allegation is that both the aide and the royal used drugs.
