London, Feb 19 (ANI): A former boyfriend of Tamara Ecclestone has denied reports that he tried to blackmail the Formula 1 heiress for 200,000 pounds.
The socialite and model has given evidence in the trial of Derek Rose, who has been accused of blackmailing her almost 10 years after they broke up, Sky News reported.
Southwark Crown Court heard that Rose, who dated the eldest daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone when she was 17, threatened to reveal details of their relationship.
The pair split up in August 2002. The same year, Rose, 33, sold a story to the Daily Mail about her for 10,000 pounds, the jury was told.
By November 2011, he had orchestrated a blackmail letter with co-accused Jakir Uddin, a 20-year-old media studies student from the West Midlands, it is alleged.
The court heard the men sent an email to Ecclestone's then manager Dana Malmstrom claiming Rose had received "a life-changing offer of 200,000 pounds" for details of their relationship. But no newspaper had made an offer.
Uddin sent the email acting as Rose's official representative on November 16, 2011, the court was told.
The defendants were hoping the victim would buy their silence, said William Boyce QC, prosecuting.
Boyce said the email went on with "pernicious" implications about damage to Ecclestone's reputation.
The defendants allegedly wrote that they would be happy to discuss "a non-release fee" and sign a confidentiality contract - but they also gave a deadline of the following Friday when they claimed they had to answer the tabloid's offer. (ANI)
