Reproduced from Daily Telegraph 6 May, 1999

Alford, 27, who defended himself, blamed the News of the World for entrapping him into supplying the drugs. An undercover reporter posed as the wealthy Arab and secretly filmed the actor handing over the drugs in a suite at the Savoy hotel.

Alford was remanded in custody to be sentenced later. He showed little emotion as two majority guilty verdicts were returned at Snaresbrook Crown Court, east London. But his fiancee, Tina Mahon, who had supported him during the case, trembled noticeably and later burst into tears.

Terry Marsh, the former world boxing champion, read a statement from the actor on the court steps.

Mr Marsh, who helped prepare the defence case, said Alford - charged under his real name of John Shannon - respected the jury's verdict and thanked Judge Stephen Robbins for his consideration. The judge had earlier described Alford's closing speech as "brilliant".

Mr Marsh continued: "While accepting a crime was committed, he was incited by, and aided and abetted by, journalists. Were it not for the News of the World no crime would have occurred, yet he was the only one in the dock.

"He calls on Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, in view of his experience in these sorts of matters, to give his consideration to the situation in this case and others like it."

Mr Straw's teenage son was exposed in a tabloid newspaper over an alleged cannabis deal.

Mr Marsh added: "It is too late for John, but the law should be changed to protect others. In this instance journalists were the cause of this crime. He asks the Home Secretary to live up to his words and start being tough on the causes of crime."

Alford, of Hadley Wood, Herts, who lost his £50,000-a-year starring role in London's Burning after the paper exposed him, was convicted of supplying more than two grams of cocaine and nearly 12 grams of cannabis to Mazher Mahmood, the investigative editor of the News of the World, in August 1997.

Mr Mahmood, cross-examined by Alford, denied he was responsible for the actor's downfall, saying he had only himself to blame.

Alford had succumbed to "greed, vanity and a desire for self-advancement", said Martin Hicks, prosecuting.

The court heard that after Mr Mahmood received a phone call from an unidentified showbusiness acquaintance of Alford's, claiming the actor was supplying drugs, he posed as an Arab prince with a retinue of followers. In an elaborate and well-planned subterfuge, the actor was brought to the Savoy.

The conversation turned to drugs and, as the hidden cameras filmed him, Alford agreed to get some. The "prince" handed over £300 and Alford visited a north London drug dealer. The cameras were still recording when he returned and put the drugs on the table.

Alford told the jury he had been the victim of methods from "the Dark Ages". Although conceding that he was "technically" guilty of supplying the drugs, he urged the jurors to acquit him because he had been "set up".

He said where law and justice clashed, they should ensure justice won. But Mr Hicks said the jury must chose between a filmscript "happy ending" and acquit, or return verdicts "true to the evidence, true to your oaths". After four and a half hours, the jury adopted the latter choice.

Judge Robbins told Alford he faced jail - "the only question is how long".

It was the second time that Alford had appeared in court on the same charge. Last November he pleaded guilty, claiming his barrister had said he had no defence.

But after a plea to Southwark Crown Court, Judge Robbins allowed him to change his plea to not guilty and have a new trial.