Royal blackmail claims 'a farce'
...............Mr Thwaites, defending Mr McGuigan, said in his closing speech that Mr Strachan was a "Walter Mitty" type fantasist who believed he was close to the royals.
He said attempts to sell the tapes by claiming newspapers had already made offers for them "may be a dirty business, it may not be a very moral business, it may be despicable" but was not criminal.
He said police officers had failed "abysmally" to gather evidence against the defendants, adding that jurors were invited to fill the gap with a "shrug".
This referred to the "sting" meeting when Mr Strachan was asked whether publicist Max Clifford would get the tapes if the officer did not pay and Mr Strachan did not complete his answer.
Mr Thwaites said if the prosecution was right "a shrug of the shoulders is all that you need to be found guilty at the Old Bailey".
"This is a joke. This whole case is a farce from beginning to end. You cannot convict people on evidence as poor as this - as insubstantial, as insignificant, as incomplete as this," he added...........
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7378267.stm
Viscount Linley named here
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/que ... 70645.html
