Former Gladiators star Shadow will have to wait to be jailed for his part in a blackmail plot after his barrister today fell sick.
Jefferson King was due to be sentenced alongside Simon Batson, 38, his girlfriend Donna Harman, 42, and Otis Noel, 45, after he admitted taking part in a drug-fuelled blackmail plot.
The victim, Tariq Ali, 40, was held for nearly seven hours on 22 March last year after he had gone to King's flat to buy heroin and crack cocaine.
King demanded £10,000 from the victim's mother as the gang filmed Ali on a sofa with a tissue stuffed in his mouth to stifle the screams. He was eventually released at around 9pm that evening and went to the police.
This astonishing mugshot of Shadow from ITV's Gladiator series with hollow cheeks and dead eyes was issued by police after he admitted taking part in a drug-fuelled blackmail plot
King demanded £10,000 from the victim's mother as the gang filmed Ali on a sofa with a tissue stuffed in his mouth to stifle the screams
King and Batson admitted two charges of blackmail each before trial while a jury took nearly 14 hours and 16 minutes to convict Harman and Noel by majority verdicts.
Another husband and wife, both 55, were cleared by jury of aiding and abetting false imprisonment.
King, who turned 60 years old on 1 July, made a brief court appearance at Isleworth crown court today.
Judge Fiona Barrie apologised that she could not proceed with the hearing.
The judge said yesterday afternoon she received an email that his barrister was unwell and 'that is the reason we cannot proceed'.
'She represents your interests,' she said to King, who looks remarkably different from his heyday after years of drug abuse.
She said it was only just and right that she sentences the group together so she can assess everyone's role after hearing mitigation.
There was a short outburst from King's co-defendant Batson, who
