How the Slickergate scandal developed

THE Slickergate scandal began in early 2000 when James Hipwell and Anil Bhoyrul wrote a story about plans by Viglen, a computer group part-owned by Sir Alan Sugar, to expand into the internet market. Shortly afterwards, it emerged that Mirror editor Piers Morgan had spent £20,000 on Viglen shares the day the story was written.

The price of Viglen soared, making Morgan a paper profit of double his money. The Mirror editor claimed he had no advance knowledge of the story and was cleared by an internal inquiry.

The Slickers were sacked in February 2000. The Press Complaints Commission ruled in May 2000 that Morgan had 'fallen short of the high professional standards demanded by the code'. It also found Bhoyrul and Hipwell had 'engaged in flagrant, multiple breaches of the code'.

Bhoyrul, who alleged he and Hipwell were made scapegoats, settled out of court with Trinity Mirror for around £15,000 in February.