Sugar ordered to delete tweet

ALAN SUGAR was ordered to remove a Twitter post by a High Court judge during a British Tory peer’s expenses fraud trial, it has been revealed.

Mr Justice Saunders told Labour peer Sugar to delete the comment over fears that what he said could have influenced the jury sitting on John Taylor’s trial earlier this year. Sugar hinted in the tweet, made on the second day of trial, that because Taylor was a Tory, he may escape conviction.

The Amstrad founder and Apprentice star reportedly said in January: “Lord Taylor, Tory peer, in court over alleged expenses fiddle. Wonder if he will get off as he is a Tory compared to Labour MP who was sent to jail.”

According to reports, he was referring to former Labour MP David Chaytor, who had received an 18-month prison sentence for expenses fraud.

The message tweeted by the business tsar — who has 286,000 followers on the social networking site — was live for 20 minutes.

Saunders later referred the matter to attorney general Dominic Grieve, who decided to take no further action.

Taylor was last week found guilty of expenses fraud.