Tabloid journalist Mazher Mahmood, known as the "Fake Sheikh", has been sentenced to 15 months for tampering with evidence in the collapsed drugs trial of N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos.

Former actor John Alford, once a victim of one of Mahmood's stings, welcomed the judgement, saying the public needed to be protected from "unscrupulous and corrupt journalists".

"It's taken over 20 years for some of us, but finally a judge and a jury of our peers has woken up to Mazher Mahmood's lies," he said.

The ruling follows a two-week trial at the Old Bailey in which a jury found the 53-year-old and his driver, Alan Smith, guilty of plotting to pervert the course of justice.

Ms Contostavlos' trial collapsed in July 2014.

The pop star was prosecuted after she was accused of arranging for Mahmood to be sold £800 of cocaine by one of her contacts following an elaborate sting for The Sun on Sunday in May 2013.

But a judge at Southwark Crown Court threw the case out after saying there were "strong grounds" to believe Mahmood had lied in the witness box.

For more than 25 years, Mahmood enjoyed a position as "King of the Sting" at the now defunct News of the World, Sunday Times and Sun on Sunday.

But following his trial at least 18 civil claims have been launched against him, which could total some £800 million.