A man has been given a three-year prison sentence after he was filmed supplying Donal Macintyre with Semtex during an undercover investigation for Five.
Sinbad Sadiku was sentenced by the United Nations Court in Kosovo for illegally supplying explosives last week, less than a year after he was shown on TV supplying Macintyre with 111 sticks of Semtex.
Macintyre, who left the BBC to work for Five in 2003, set out to buy the Semtex as part of a three-part series, Macintyre’s Millions , in which he posed as a criminal and was given £1m to spend to infiltrate criminal gangs worldwide.
Material from the investigation, made by Macintyre and Shine: Extreme Productions, was handed over to the UN after filming was completed.
Sadiku, whom Macintyre contacted through the Kosovo Liberation Army, was arrested before the programme was broadcast last December.
Macintyre did not give evidence at the trial, but some of the production team were called as witnesses.
Macintyre said: “It was a very dangerous assignment and I am just thrilled that it has resulted in a conviction.”
Five will be broadcasting a new series of UK Undercover and a three part series called Big Sting in November.
A new series looking at the criminal underworld, Macintyre’s Underworld, is due to go on air in December.
By Julie Tomlin
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