Cant understand why someone doing a crime in Pakistan is prosecuted in England.You have let down all supporters of the game': Judge jails Pakistan trio and corrupt agent for part in cricket betting scandal
Agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months for his role in the fixing
Pakistan Test cricket captain Salman Butt jailed for 30 months
Former world number two Test bowler Mohammad Asif jailed for one year for his involvement
Mohammed Amir sentenced to 6 months in prison
Justice Cooke said future cricket matches would forever be tainted by the fixing scandal
'What ought to be honest sporting competition may not be such at all,' he said.
By Martin Robinson
Last updated at 5:49 PM on 3rd November 2011
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The Pakistan cricketers found guilty of their part in a betting scam have been jailed after a judge ruled their crime was 'so serious that only a sentence of imprisonment will suffice'.
Former Test cricket captain Salman Butt was jailed for 30 months for his part in the conspiracy, bowler Mohammad Asif was jailed for one year, and Mohammed Amir sentenced to six months in prison.
Passing sentence at Southwark Crown Court in south London, Mr Justice Cooke said the men had damaged the image and integrity of cricket through their actions.
The trio plotted to bowl deliberate no-balls in the Lord's Test against England last summer as part of a lucrative spot-fixing scam.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO OF HOW THE SCAM WAS UNCOVERED
Big day: Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir arrives at Southwark Crown court this morning for sentencing
Sentence: Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir arrives at Southwark Crown court this morning, where he was jailed for six months
Corrupt cricket agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months for his role in the fixing.
Butt, Asif and Majeed are expected to begin their sentences at Wandsworth prison in south London.
Amir, who is 19, is due to be sent to Feltham young offenders' institute in west London, but his barrister, Henry Blaxland QC, said he intended to apply for bail later today pending an appeal against his sentence.
Butt's solicitor, Paul Harris, said the cricketer would be lodging an appeal against sentence within 24 hours.
Justice Cooke said they engaged in corruption in a game whose very name used to be associated with 'fair dealing on the sporting field'.
In the dock: (left to right) Majeed, Butt, Asif, and Amir hear they are to be jailed by Justice Cooke today
In the dock: (left to right) Majeed, Butt, Asif, and Amir hear they are to be jailed by Justice Cooke today
The judge told the court: '"It's not cricket" was an adage. It is the insidious effect of your actions on professional cricket and the followers of it that make the offences so serious.
'The image and integrity of what was once a game but is now a business is damaged in the eyes of all, including the many youngsters who regarded you as as heroes and would have given their eye teeth to play at the levels and with the skills that you had.
'Your motive was greed, despite the legitimate rewards on offer in salaries and prize money. You have let down all supporters of the game.'
He added that the offences were 'so serious that only a sentence of imprisonment will suffice'.
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The judge said future cricket matches would forever be tainted by the fixing scandal.
He said: 'Now whenever people look back on a surprising event in a game or a surprising result, or whenever in the future there are surprising events or results, followers of the game who have paid good money to watch it live or watch it on television will be left to wonder whether there has been fixing and whether what they have been watching is a genuine contest between bat and ball.
'What ought to be honest sporting competition may not be such at all.'
Majeed's woe increased yesterday as his £135,000 DB9 Aston Martin was repossessed and towed from outside his £1.8 million home in Croydon, south London.
The maximum sentence for cheating is two years in jail and an unlimited fine, while accepting corrupt payments carries a sentence of up to seven years and an unlimited fine.
Mohammad Asif
Former Pakistani cricket captain Salman Butt
Jailed: Former world number two Test bowler Mohammad Asif, left, was jailed for one year while Pakistan Test cricket captain Salman Butt, right, was jailed for 30 months. Both were pictured entering court today
Struggle: Salman Butt had to fight his way through the media as he arrived at Southwark Crown Court and was given the heaviest sentence for his role in the scam
Struggle: Salman Butt had to fight his way through the media as he arrived at Southwark Crown Court today and was given the heaviest sentence for his role in the scam
The court heard yesterday that Majeed had paid Asif £65,000 to stop him switching to a rival match-fixing ring.
During a fiery session yesterday an unnamed Pakistan cricketer was also implicated by a defence lawyer.
But Mohammad Amir's claim that his cricket fixing was 'isolated' to just one game was thrown out by the judge.
Unlike his two teammates, who were convicted of conspiracy to cheat at gambling and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, Amir pleaded guilty to the charge, insisting that he was forced to bowl no-balls in that single match.
However, Mr Justice Cooke dismissed his claims that it was 'an isolated and one-off event' and ruled that text messages sent from shadowy contacts in Pakistan suggest the young cricketer was also implicated in fixing during the Oval Test earlier in the summer
The agent received £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World as part of an arrangement to rig games, including a promise that Amir and Asif would deliver three no-balls at pre-arranged points in the Lord's match.
Pleading his innocence: the sisters of cricketer Salman Butt talk to journalists in Lahore, Pakistan, after hearing that their brother had been jailed
Pleading his innocence: the sisters of cricketer Salman Butt talk to journalists in Lahore, Pakistan, after hearing that their brother had been jailed
Distress: Mohamma Ijaz, the brother of Mohammed Amir, reacts as he hears the verdict at the family home in Changa Bangial village
Distress: Mohamma Ijaz, the brother of Mohammed Amir, reacts as he hears the verdict at the family home in Changa Bangial village
Anger: Pakistani cricket fans gather and burnt posters depicting the three players after hearing the verdicts
Anger: Pakistani cricket fans gather and burnt posters depicting the three players after hearing the verdicts
He paid £2,500 of the money to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif, and planned to give them more in the future, the court heard.
Explaining why Asif was paid so much more than his team-mates, Majeed's barrister, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, said: 'The larger amount was paid in order to ensure that that player remained, as it were, loyal to these people, the players within the dressing room, rather than to others by whom he might be tempted.'
Asif's lawyer, Alexander Milne QC, denied that the player received any money for bowling the no-ball at Lord's.
Majeed, a married businessman with three young children, from Croydon, south London, claimed he only became involved in fixing at the request of Butt, whom he managed and was close friends with, the court heard.
Majeed has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to make corrupt payments.
Mr Milliken-Smith said his client did not recruit any of the Pakistan cricketers to fixing, telling the court: 'He was, we respectfully submit, yes, the arranger for the players. He was not the corrupter.'
Butt's barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, strongly denied Majeed's claims that the former captain initiated the fixing scam.
Cheat: The teenager is shown performing one of the no-balls that were found to be pre-determined when Pakistan played England at Lord's in August 2010
Cheat: Teenager Amir is shown performing one of the no-balls that were found to be pre-determined when Pakistan played England at Lord's in August 2010
The agent received £150,000 in cash from an undercover reporter from the News of the World as part of an arrangement to rig games, including a promise that Amir and Asif would deliver three no-balls at pre-arranged points in the Lord's match.
He paid £2,500 of the money to Amir, £10,000 to Butt and £65,000 to Asif, and planned to give them more in the future, the court heard.
Explaining why Asif was paid so much more than his team-mates, Majeed's barrister, Mark Milliken-Smith QC, said: 'The larger amount was paid in order to ensure that that player remained, as it were, loyal to these people, the players within the dressing room, rather than to others by whom he might be tempted.'
Asif's lawyer, Alexander Milne QC, denied that the player received any money for bowling the no-ball at Lord's.
Majeed, a married businessman with three young children, from Croydon, south London, claimed he only became involved in fixing at the request of Butt, whom he managed and was close friends with, the court heard.
Majeed has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to make corrupt payments.
Mr Milliken-Smith said his client did not recruit any of the Pakistan cricketers to fixing, telling the court: 'He was, we respectfully submit, yes, the arranger for the players. He was not the corrupter.'
Butt's barrister, Ali Bajwa QC, strongly denied Majeed's claims that the former captain initiated the fixing scam.
