Tamara Ecclestone Blackmail: Ex Found Guilty

A former fiance of model and socialite Tamara Ecclestone has been found guilty of blackmailing her for £200,000.

Derek Rose, of Camden, north London, was in a relationship with the daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone when she was just 17.

The 33-year-old went out with Ms Ecclestone, now 28, in 2002 before he changed his name by deed poll from Jonathan Ketterman.

Southwark Crown Court heard Rose and 20-year-old media studies student Jakir Uddin - whom the jury have yet to deliver a verdict on - plotted together to blackmail Ms Ecclestone.

Rose held his head in his hands when the jury announced the guilty verdict.

They were accused of drafting an email together which they sent to her manager Dana Malmstrom, threatening to reveal her "intimate secrets".

The letter claimed Rose had received "a life-changing offer of £200,000" for details of their relationship - although no newspaper had made an offer.

Uddin sent the email acting as Rose's official representative on November 16, 2011, in a move the prosecution said the defendants hoped would prompt Ms Ecclestone to buy their silence.

The prosecution told the trial the tone of the letter was "you don't really want that in the press whether it's true or not".

Part of the email was written in bold but not read out in court. It referred to an "incident".

Rose and Uddin, of Birmingham, both denied blackmail.

Judge Goymer told the 11-strong jury it must reach a majority verdict of 10 to one on Uddin.