AMERICAN oil and banking heir Matthew Mellon yesterday expressed his relief after he was cleared of illegally being involved with a private detective agency which tried to hack into his ex-wife’s emails.

Lord Archer today failed in a bid to challenge his conviction for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Lord Archer was the victim of an ‘‘unbalanced’’ trial on charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice, the Court of Appeal heard today.

Lord Archer today declined to give evidence at his Old Bailey trial - but his barrister warned the jury not to draw any ‘‘adverse inferences’’ from his decision.

The former secretary of Jeffrey Archer has told the Old Bailey that he was "extremely unpredictable".