Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone’s husband cleared of helping drug trafficker escape
CHARGES against Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone's husband over claims he helped an international drugs baron avoid justice have been dropped today.
Jay Rutland with his wife F1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone and their daughter
Property developer Jay Rutland, 35, was charged along with convicted cannabis smuggler Martin Beckett of assisting drugs trafficker James Tarrant.
Son-in-law to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, Rutland was said to have helped the 66-year old crime king, Tarrant, avoid capture after he fled the country and went on the run before being convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison in his absence.
But Thames Magistrates' Court was told today that the case against Mr Rutland and Beckett was being closed because of ”insufficient evidence" following a notice from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Rutland, of Kensington, west London, a former City trader, did not attend the hearing while Beckett appeared via video link from prison.
Tarrant fled while awaiting trial for drugs offences in 2010 after police found cannabis, cocaine, a gun, ammunition and body armour at a house in Waltham Abbey, Essex.
Rutland was accused of helping drugs baron James Tarrant escape the law
He was convicted in his absence to 14 years imprisonment and was one of the UK’s most wanted criminals.
But after five years on the run he handed himself in at Breda, Holland, last September and was returned to Britain.
Speaking in court today, District Judge Sonia Sims said: "Let the file be noted this case was discontinued based on the evidence here today that there is insufficient evidence."
The court also heard the charge against co-defendant Beckett was also dropped for the same reasons.
Beckett is currently serving nine years and 10 months behind bars.
He was jailed at Wood Green Crown Court last month for his major role within a cannabis smuggling gang who shipped £20million worth of cannabis into Britain rolled up in carpets.
Two-and-a-half tonnes of the Class B drug were imported in multiple shipments from Holland.
An investigation, code-named Operation Pepper, began last September after five rolls of carpet stuffed with drugs were shipped from Zeebrugge in Holland to Britain.
When seized by police at a wholesalers, called KB Carpets in Leytonstone, east London, cops found drugs weighing 1.8 tonnes and with a street value of around £10m.
Beckett, of Theydon Bois, Essex, tried to flee the warehouse in a white van, but he was being watched by undercover cops and was arrested two days later.
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He admitted conspiracy to supply the cannabis, but disputed his involvement in the drug's importation.
After a three week trial and 12 hours deliberations, however, he was found guilty.
Speaking to Beckett at today’s hearing, Judge Sims said: "I'm not sure you are aware, but there is discontinuance notice.
"As far as this matters before this court is concerned these are concluded for the purposes of today."
Rutland,the husband of Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone, was arrested and charged in February
Rutland, 31, proposed to Ms Ecclestone - daughter of F1 tycoon Bernie who has amassed an estimated £3billion fortune - in January 2013 after a whirlwind romance.
They married later that year in a £7m ceremony on the French Riviera which boasted guests including Sir Elton John, Sir Sean Connery and music producer Mark Ronson.
The couple have a 23-month old daughter together.
Rutland's high-earning career in the City of London ended in shame in 2012, when he was banned from trading over "market abuse".
The Financial Services Authority concluded he was "not a fit and proper person" and his behaviour demonstrated a lack of "honesty and integrity".