More than 30 criminal cases that relied on evidence given by Mazher Mahmood are being reviewed following the collapse of the Tulisa Contostavlos trial, according a report in The Independent.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CP) is evidently reconsidering both old cases and three current cases. The review comes after the trial of Contostavlos, facing a drugs charge, collapsed because the judge said there were "strong grounds" to believe the Sun reporter had lied in court and manipulated evidence.
According to the report, among the cases under review are those involving football match-fixing and the prosecution of a doctor for allegedly selling abortion pills.
Mahmood's football corruption story, published in the Sun on Sunday in December 2013, led to 13 people being arrested (although they have not been charged).
The abortion pill story was published in September 2012 by the Sunday Times. Mahmood switched to that paper following the 2011 closure of the News of the World and then joined the Sun on Sunday after its launch in February 2012.
A CPS spokesman quoted by the Indy said: "We are currently identifying those cases which have relied on the evidence of Mazher Mahmood, both past and present, and are carefully considering the next steps."
Mahmood (aka the fake sheikh) has been suspended by the Sun on Sunday and an internal inquiry is continuing.
