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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

British jury finds Butt, Asif guilty of spot fixing


The jury at London s Southwark Crown Court found former captain Butt guilty of both counts of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments. Asif was found guilty of a single count of conspiracy to cheat. The judge ordered the jury to retire again to continue deliberating on the second charge against Asif. Butt could face seven years in jail when the pair are sentenced later this week. The lesser charge of conspiracy to cheat carries a possible punishment of two years imprisonment. The judge presiding over the fixing trial of Butt and Asif had sent the jury home Monday. However he had said that he would accept majority decision. When the jury met today, they gave the decision against the duo, finding them guilty of spot fixing. The jurors reported back to south London s Southwark Crown Court at 10 a.m. Tuesday after judge Jeremy Cooke said he would accept a 10-2 verdict on whether the pair plotted the deliberate bowling of no-balls during the fourth test against England at Lord s in August 2010. Butt, Asif and bowler Mohammad Amir have already received lengthy suspensions by an International Cricket Council anti-corruption tribunal in Doha for fixing parts of the Lord s test. Butt was banned for 10 years, five of which are suspended, Amir was banned for five years and Asif was given a seven-year ban, with two suspended. Cooke previously told the 12 jurors to accept that Amir was involved. The jury initially retired at midday Thursday but reported to Cooke on Monday that it was unable to reach a unanimous decision. The allegations originally surfaced after Majeed was recorded by an undercover reporter working for the now-defunct News of the World tabloid saying that the three Pakistan players had accepted money to fix betting markets. Majeed was secretly filmed accepting 150,000 pounds ($242,000) in cash from the journalist. Butt said he had ignored the requests from Majeed, his agent, and Asif said he had only bowled the no-ball at precisely the time Majeed said it would be delivered because Butt had told him to run faster moments before bowling.

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