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  1. Media Law
October 30, 2015

Mazher Mahmood court case adjourned on ‘health grounds’

By PA Mediapoint

The court case against the undercover reporter known as the Fake Sheikh has been adjourned on "health grounds", a court official said.

Mazher Mahmood, 52, is charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice following the collapsed drugs trial of pop star Tulisa Contostavlos (pictured, Reuters).

The former News Of The World journalist was due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London today but an official confirmed the case had been put back to 20 November  on "health grounds".

The official declined to provide any more details.

Mahmood is charged alongside Alan Smith, 66, a retired driver from Norfolk, who is accused of the same offence.

Former N-Dubz star Contostavlos, 27, went on trial last year after allegedly brokering a cocaine deal which featured in an expose in The Sun On Sunday following an investigation by Mahmood.

She denied a charge of being concerned with the supply of class A drugs before a judge threw out the case at Southwark Crown Court in July last year.

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Contostavlos's rapper friend Mike GLC was also cleared, despite admitting supplying half an ounce (13.9g) of the drug.

Mahmood spent 25 years as an undercover reporter and claimed to have helped put more than 100 criminals behind bars.

News UK, which publishes The Sun, has said that Mahmood remains suspended from the newspaper.

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