Ecclestone jury mulls verdict

Published on 23/02/2013 01:29

THE jury in the trial of socialite Tamara Ecclestone’s former fiancé, who is accused of blackmailing her for £200,000, has retired to consider its verdict.

Derek Rose, 33, who went out with the daughter of Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone more than a decade ago when she was 17, allegedly orchestrated a plot in which he wrote to a newspaper to try to sell his story.

The prosecution at London’s Southwark Crown Court claimed Rose and co-defendant Jakir Uddin, 20, a media studies student, plotted together to blackmail Ms Ecclestone, now 28, and drafted an e-mail they sent to her manager, Dana Malmstrom.

Both men deny blackmail.