James Stunt cleared of forgery but faces money-laundering retrial

James Stunt has been cleared of forgery but faces a retrial on a money-laundering charge

Socialite James Stunt has been cleared of forgery but a jury has failed to reach a verdict on a money-laundering charge after a seven-month trial.

The ex-husband of F1 heiress Petra Ecclestone was one of eight defendants accused of being part an alleged £266m criminal enterprise.

Four were cleared of all charges at Leeds Cloth Hall Court on Wednesday.

But Judge Andrew Stubbs KC discharged jurors after they failed to reach verdicts in the remaining cases.

The defendants were all accused of roles in an alleged criminal network which deposited huge sums of cash in the accounts of Bradford gold dealer Fowler Oldfield between January 2014 and September 2016.

Paul Miller, 45, Heidi Buckler, 45, Alexander Tulloch, 41, and Francesca Sota, 34, were found not guilty of money laundering. Mr Sota was also cleared of forgery.

But the jury of seven men and four women were unable to reach verdicts on the money-laundering charge for Stunt, 40, Greg Frankel, 44, Haroon Rashid, 51, and Daniel Rawson, 45.

Jurors had been deliberating for more than six days in the largest money-laundering trial in British criminal history.

Prosecutor Nicholas Clarke KC told the court there would be a retrial for the remaining four defendants.