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Rediff.com  » Cricket » Spot-fixing: Butt gets two-and-a-half years jail; Asif one

Spot-fixing: Butt gets two-and-a-half years jail; Asif one

Last updated on: November 03, 2011 20:18 IST
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Justice Jeremy Cooke has ruled that the three disgraced Pakistan cricketers convicted of spot-fixing must go to jail.

"The offences [are] so serious that only a prison sentence will suffice," he told London's Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

- Sentencing remarks of Justice Cooke

- Judge slaps fines too on convicted trio

- The spot-fixing trial

"This is not cricket. You have let down all supporters of the game. The image and integrity of cricket has been damaged. Your motive was greed, despite the legitimate rewards on offer in salaries and prize-money," he added.

- How the spot-fixing saga unfolded

Mohd Amir (left) with Mohd Asif (behind) and Salman ButtSalman Butt was given a jail term of two-and-a-half years, while his team-mate Mohammad Asif got a year in jail.

The judge told Butt: "I consider you were guilty for corrupting Amir."

Amir, who had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to six months in prison.

"I refuse to accept the basis of you plea, that this was a one-off and you were pressured to do this," the judge told the pacer.

Mazhar Majeed, the man at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy, was given two years and eight months in jail. The judge added that Majeed would have served four years if he had pleaded not guilty.

"You took lion share of spoils," Justice Cooke said.

Butt, Asif and Majeed will spend their jail terms in Wandsworth prison, while youngster Asif is headed to Feltham Young Offenders Institution.

Butt, Amir and Asif were guilty of taking bribes to fix part of a Test match against England in a case that prosecutors said revealed rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket. The trio bowled deliberate no-balls at pre-arranged times during the Lord's Test against England in August last year.

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