Unreliable people good sources, says ‘fake sheikh’

News Corporation tabloid reporter Mazher Mahmood, known as the “fake sheikh” for the scoops he obtained by imitating a wealthy Arab, told an inquiry into media ethics that unreliable people are often good sources.

Mahmood, hired by the company’s Sunday Times newspaper after two decades at its now-defunct News of the World, said he continued using a source after police deemed the man an unreliable witness, resulting in the collapse of a trial over an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham.

“We deal with unreliable people all the time” and our job is to test what they’re saying and decide whether to use it, Mahmood told the judge-led inquiry in London. “I’ve had front-page splashes from crack addicts.” The public was cleared from the courtroom to keep Mahmood’s appearance secret.