In 1999, Mahmood won Reporter of the Year for his undercover story about Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd and his deputy Doug Hall describing women from Newcastle as “dogs”. The pair also called Kevin Keegan - the club’s ex-manager - Shirley Temple and laughed at supporters for buying expensive replica shirts. Their unguarded comments were made on a drunken tour of lap-dancing bars in Marbella, Spain.
Sophie Wessex reportedly had to write grovelling apologies to Tony Blair and William Hague after Mahmood lured her into making highly embarrassing comments about them in 2001. As well as lampooning William Hague for his appearance and Yorkshire accent, she refered to “President Blair” and Gordon Brown’s “pap budget”.
Mahmood took two more royal scalps. In 2005, Princess Michael of Kent gossiped freely about other royals, and in 2010, Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of Prince Andrew, tried to sell access to her former husband, a quasi-official British trade envoy.
Hailed as the greatest scoop ever, a sting operation by Mahmood in 2002 backfired spectacularly when the trial of five men accused of plotting to kidnap Victoria Beckham and her children collapsed after it was revealed that the News of the World had paid £10,000 for the story from an unreliable source.
In 2005, Carole Caplin, a lifestyle guru employed by Tony Blair’s wife Cherie told Mahmood that “Tony’s in dire straits”, calling the prime minister “overweight” and suggesting he drank too much.
England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson had to make a series of apologetic phone calls in 2006 after making unguarded comments in a Dubai restaurant to the undercover reporter, who was posing as the owner of a football academy.
In 2010, three Pakistan international cricketers were jailed for their part in a “spot-fixing” scam following a corruption trial in London. The case came to court after a successful sting by Mahmood, who had passed himself off as match-fixer.
