 At the trial, the prosecution's case depended heavily on the evidence of Scott, of Thorpe's former parliamentary colleague Peter Bessell, and of the hired gunman, Andrew Newton. None of these witnesses impressed the court; Bessell's credibility was undermined by the revelations of his financial arrangements with The Sunday Telegraph. In his summing-up the judge was scathing about the prosecution's evidence, and all four defendants were acquitted. Nevertheless, Thorpe's public reputation was damaged irreparably by the case. He had chosen not to testify at the trial, which left a number of matters unexplained amid public disquiet.
