‘Cheriegate’ affair man arrested by police in Queensland

CONMAN Peter Foster is due to appear in court in Australia next week after being arrested at the bedside of his sick mother in a Queensland hospital.

Foster, who helped Cherie Blair buy two reduced-price flats in Bristol in 2002, was arrested on Friday as he visited his mother in Pindara Private Hospital, where she was being treated after suffering a stroke.

Australian detectives went to the coronary care unit and arrested the 49-year-old on two contempt of court warrants issued by the Federal Court in Sydney.

He is due to appear in court in Queensland next week.

A statement from Queensland Police said: “Members of the South Eastern region Serious and Violent Crime Squad, working in co-operation with members of other Federal Government agencies, have arrested a 49-year-old Gold Coast man.”

Australia’s consumer watchdog began legal action in July over a weight loss spray, Sensaslim. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accuses Sensaslim Australia, Foster and other company officers of “misleading and deceptive conduct” and “false claims”.

It also alleges that Foster’s involvement in the business, now in liquidation, was not disclosed.

It is the latest in a string of controversies surrounding Foster, who has been convicted and jailed in three countries.

The “Cheriegate” affair resulted in a public apology from Blair, wife of then Prime Minister Tony Blair.