Mirror's City Slickers may be charged

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated:

 

THE Mirror's City Slicker tipsters may face formal charges over a share dealing scandal at the newspaper - but former editor Piers Morgan has claimed that he has been cleared of blame.

Tipsters Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell are alleged to have used their column to create a misleading impression of the value of certain shares.

The Prosecution Branch of the Department of Trade and Industry has sent information to Thames Court alleging that between August 1999 and February 2000, the two Slickers conspired to commit an offence contrary to the Financial Services Act 1986.

A third man, Terry Shepherd, also faces charges. The Slickers affair was one of the most notorious City scandals this decade.

The DTI, which conducted a marathon four-year investigation into the affair, said no criminal proceedings would be taken against Morgan. A spokesman refused to comment on whether he would face any other action.

Morgan bought shares in Viglen shortly before they were tipped by the Slickers. He was criticised by the Press Complaints Commission.

Morgan was sacked last month over the use of faked images of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British troops.

Morgan said: 'I co-operated fully with the DTI during their painstaking four-year investigation and always believed that my name would eventually be cleared, as indeed it now has.'

Neither Bhoyrul or Hipwell was immediately available for comment. Hipwell edits gambling magazine Inside Edge.

After leaving the Mirror, Bhoyrul became a contributor to the Sunday Express, sometimes under a pseudonym. The pair have in the past claimed that they were made scapegoats.

The scandal is a severe embarrassment to the Mirror board, led by Sir Victor Blank.

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