Mirror journalists’ ‘scam’ was too successful, court told

TWO financial journalists accused of reaping a string of illicit “share ramping” windfalls were the victims of their own success, a court heard yesterday.

One of the tips they highlighted in their City Slickers column in the Daily Mirror not only made them a “handsome profit” but also sent stock in the computer company owned by Alan Sugar soaring.

James Hipwell and Anil Bhoyrul, said to have been among a number of the newspaper’s employees who bought shares in Viglen the day before their article appeared, later made “the usual sort of boast” about their power.

They wrote: “Sir Alan Sugar made the fastest £100 million in City history yesterday because of us.”

Philip Katz, prosecuting, told London’s Southwark Crown Court: “As a result of that happening and because various people at The Mirror had apparently taken advantage of the situation, it led to the matter going into the public domain with letters, articles and complaints appearing in the press.”

Hipwell, 39, of Caledonian Road, Holloway, north London, and private investor Terry Shepherd, 36, of Kinglea, Leatherhead, Surrey - accused of making £41,000 (€60,300) and £17,000 (€25,000) respectively from their allegedly illicit dealings - each deny conspiring with Bhoyrul to “create a misleading impression as to the value of investments between August 1 1999 and February 29, 2000.” Bhoyrul, 38, of Wood Road, Sutton, is not on trial.

The court has heard the journalists repeatedly used a “buy, tip and sale’ approach to secretly make money.

Later, Hipwell’s barrister, Philip Hackett, told jurors the prosecution had to show the journalists “set out to deliberately create a misleading impression as to the value of the shares.”

Michael Beckman, for Shepherd, told jurors that once the affair broke, the Mirror held its own investigation, perhaps for the purpose of clearing itself.

“Lo and behold, it cleared the editor, Piers Morgan.”

But neither Mr Morgan, the man “fundamentally in charge”, nor the others were in the dock. “You may think that very important,” said Mr Beckman.