2007 royal blackmail plot

The 2007 royal blackmail plot was a UK scandal in which two men attempted to blackmail a relation of the British Royal Family. The relative of the royal family was alleged to have been involved in activities involving drug taking, and performing sexual activity on a male aide.[1]

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on the situation after The Sunday Times reported the story on 28 October 2007.[2][3] A spokesperson for the palace only stated that it was a police matter and that Scotland Yard was investigating.[3]

The two defendants in the case were named as Sean McGuigan and Paul Aðalsteinsson. McGuigan, a recovering alcoholic, had previous criminal convictions and was originally from Ireland with republican connections. He was released from prison under the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.[4][5] Aðalsteinsson held an Icelandic passport.[6] Both men were arrested on 11 September 2007 charged under the Theft Act 1968 and was held in custody in Belmarsh Prison.[7] They first applied for bail on 2 November, but this was refused.[7] An appeal was also turned down on 8 December.[7] They pleaded not guilty at the pre-trial hearing on 20 December 2007; the trial began on 14 April 2008.[8]

Both men were convicted on 2 May 2008 sentenced to five years in prison.[9] It was the first case of royal blackmail for more than a century, but the expensive trial was described as an "overreaction".[5]

The trial was branded a "a joke" and "a farce". Ronald Thwaites QC, described the evidence against the defendants as "insubstantial, insignificant, and incomplete," saying that, "you cannot convict people on evidence as poor as this."[10] Police had obtained £50,000 in cash from public funds which was being held nearby by a "money man" to "flash" at the men should they make a demand for it, a demand which apparently never came, the court was told. The pair were arrested in a sting operation at a London hotel by undercover police officers from the Metropolitan police's counter-terrorism unit.[5]

Aðalsteinsson who was Icelandic[6] - also used the names Paul Stein, Charles Goldstein was appealing the conviction until he was found dead at his flat in South Kensington, West London[11] on Christmas Eve in 2016 as reported by The Sun on 2 March 2017.[12]

A public inquest into Aðalsteinsson's death on 30 June 2017 heard he became a recreational drug user, developed an alcohol dependency issue and latterly became addicted to prescription drugs due to the amputation of a leg. He was found collapsed on Christmas Eve 2016 after suffering respiratory failure brought on by multi-drug poisoning.[11] The whereabouts of the other defendant in the case, Sean McGuigan, is not known.