Two former Daily Mirror journalists were warned yesterday that they face imprisonment over their attempts to manipulate the stock market through their City Slicker newspaper column.
Southwark Crown Court heard how James Hipwell and Anil Bhoyrul conspired with a third man, private investor Terry Shepherd, to make thousands of pounds by ramping up the price of shares.
Bhoyrul, 38, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing. Hipwell, 39, and Shepherd, 36, pleaded not guilty. After a seven-week trial the jury of six men and six women took less than two days to find them guilty.
All were released on bail, though Mr Justice Beatson warned that this does "not mean I am not considering a sentence of imprisonment". They will be sentenced next month and face a maximum of seven years
The affair, dubbed Slickergate, emerged after The Daily Telegraph disclosed in February 2000 that the Mirror's then editor, Piers Morgan, had bought shares in a company the day before it was tipped.
Yesterday, the Department of Trade and Industry took the unusual step of welcoming the jury's decision, a statement that was seen as a shot across the bows of financial journalists.
Hipwell made about £41,000 from the scam, and Shepherd, about £17,000. Bhoyrul was about £15,000 richer from the share trades. Prosecutors cited 44 instances of ramping between August 1999 and February 2000.
Investors were invited to "pile in" and join the "goldrush" on the back of stories and tips that amounted to a "cynical disregard for accuracy," said Philip Katz, QC, prosecuting.
The Slickers' scheme began to unravel when they wrote a "screaming buy" on the Viglen computer company, run by Sir Alan Sugar. The Daily Telegraph revealed that Mr Morgan bought £67,000 of shares the day before. He told an internal Mirror inquiry and DTI inspectors that it was a coincidence. He was cleared.
The DTI and city regulator, the Financial Services Authority, said they had no plans to re-open any investigations into the affair.
