Royal blackmail claims 'a farce'

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The case against two men accused of blackmailing a member of the Royal Family is a "farce", jurors have heard.

The evidence against Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan is "insubstantial, insignificant, and incomplete", Ronald Thwaites QC told the Old Bailey.

Attempts to sell a tape featuring comments about the unnamed royal were no more than "buying and selling in the real world", he said.

The defendants, both of London, deny demanding money with menaces.

The two were arrested in a hotel during a police sting operation last year as an undercover officer posed as a royal aide.

'Walter Mitty'

The Old Bailey has heard claims the men recorded tapes of a royal employee, witness D, in which he claimed that an unnamed royal, witness A, performed a sex act on him.

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.

This whole case is a farce from beginning to end. You cannot convict people on evidence as poor as this Ronald Thwaites

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.

The case continues.