Tamara Ecclestone's Ex-Lover Derek Rose Jailed for Blackmail

The former lover of Tamara Ecclestone has been jailed for four years for threatening to reveal the Formula One heiress's bedroom secrets in a blackmail plot.

Derek Rose contacted the multimillionaire heiress to demand £200,000 to keep silent. He told her in 2012 that a newspaper had made him a similar offer for intimate stories about her.

She had dumped Rose, now 32, nearly 10 years ago, when she was 17.

Judge Andrew Goymer found Rose guilty at Southwark Crown Court. Rose had denied the charge.

Co-accused Jakir Uddin, 20, faces a retrial over the same allegations.

His trial collapsed on Monday after the jury failed to reach a verdict and was discharged.

Uddin was accused of posing as Rose's agent and contacting Ecclestone, the daughter of F1 magnate Bernie Ecclestone. The court heard that he chose "the right words to pressure and intimidate Ms Ecclestone into paying £200,000".

In separate proceedings in the same court building on Monday, the new trial of the former wife of ex-energy secretary Chris Huhne, Vicky Pryce, got under way.

Last week, the trial against her collapsed when the jury failed to reached a majority verdict.

There was national concern after a series of questions to the judge was revealed which suggested that the eight women and four men members of the jury were unable to follow proceedings.

READ: Tamara Ecclestone: The Rich Girl with a Love for Rogues