TOP criminal barrister Sasha Wass QC won a grovelling apology and "substantial" damages yesterday from the Mail on Sunday over an article which wrongly accused her of putting an “innocent” fraudster in jail.

Associated Newspapers apologised for printing the "entirely untrue" allegations that Ms Wass had "buried evidence of Met bribes to put an innocent man in jail."

The October 2016 article related to confiscation proceedings against "disgraced solicitor" Bhadresh Gohil, who was convicted of helping Nigerian politician James Ibori launder tens of millions of pounds of embezzled funds.

The Independent Press Standards Organisation sanctioned the Mail for its inaccurate reporting last year, but the paper refused to take down the article until Ms Wass took legal action.

She has been involved in numerous high-profile criminal trials, most notably prosecuting Rolf Harris and defending Rose West in the mid-1990s.

Ms Wass said in a statement she had been left with "no option" but to sue for libel over the "devastating attack on my professional standing and reputation.”