A former boyfriend of socialite and model Tamara Ecclestone faces jail after he was found guilty of blackmailing the star for £200,000.
Derek Rose (33) went out with the daughter of Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone in 2002, when she was 17, before changing his name by deed poll from Jonathan Ketterman.
In November 2011, the star received an email claiming Rose had been offered £200,000 to sell his story to the tabloid press, despite no newspaper having made such an offer.
The court heard the email had “pernicious” implications and was sent to elicit money from Miss Ecclestone (28) and mentioned a “non-release fee” and confidentiality contract.
Rose, of Arlington Road, Camden, north London, held his head in his hands and sobbed as the jury of seven men and four women delivered the guilty verdict.
Judge Andrew Goymer warned Rose he faces an “inevitable prison sentence” when he returns to Southwark Crown Court.
Rose, who denied blackmail, was included in an email mentioning the possibility of discussing “a non-release fee” and signing a confidentiality contract.
Jakir Uddin (20), of Old Walsall Road, Birmingham, will face a retrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict on the same blackmail charge against him.
The blackmail arose from an email that was sent on November 16 2011 after Ms Ecclestone had starred in Billion Dollar Girl, a reality television programme exploring her life as a rich youngster, and after she had generated publicity in charity campaigns.
Uddin was bailed and will be listed for a mention on March 25.
Ms Ecclestone announced she is engaged to 31-year-old former City stockbroker Jay Rutland. The couple only met a month before getting engaged and Ms Ecclestone said she could understand people being sceptical about the relationship.
She told Hello! Magazine: “I’d never really understood it, because I hadn’t experienced it for myself, but when I met Jay, I just knew this was the man I was going to marry.”