A pub landlord who was attacked by Amy Winehouse's husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, accepted a £200,000 bribe not to give evidence about the incident, a court has been told.
Fielder-Civil and another man, Michael Brown, have pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on James King outside the Macbeth in east London in June 2006.
However, prosecutor Sean Larkin told Snaresbrook Crown Court today (June 10th) that a deal had been struck between both parties that would "effectively throw the case”.
According to Mr Larkin, two other men, Anthony Kelly and James Kennedy, acted as middle men in the deal, which would involve Mr King leaving the country.
This would have meant that both Fielder-Civil and Brown would have been found not guilty of assault.
But the plot was exposed when Mr King, who has pleaded not guilty to attempting perverting the course of justice, and Kelly tried to sell details of the arrangement to a journalist working for the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Mr Larkin said that when the journalist, Stephen Moyes, asked whether Fielder-Civil's wife was involved in the financial aspects of the deal, Kelly told him: “'Who do you think is paying for it, of course she is'.”
Despite Kelly's claim, Winehouse was cleared in February of having any involvement in the case, reports the BBC.
Fielder-Civil faces a maximum of five years in jail over the assault charge.
You can view our pictures of Winehouse and Fielder-Civil below...
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