A notorious Aberdeen blackmailer who tried to con a mystery royal out of £50,000 became involved with the Turkish mafia and believed he was a “criminal mastermind”.
Socialite and playboy Ian Strachan was thrown in jail in 2008 having tried to sell a video showing a gay sex act between the royal and young Buckingham Palace aide, who also claimed he had been groped by the senior royal.
Strachan died in 2016 after taking a ‘lethal cocktail’ of drugs on Christmas Eve in his London flat, having been freed from prison after serving just 22 months of his five-year sentence.
But now, underworld photographer Brian Anderson has revealed how Aberdeen-born criminal was desperate to become a gangland kingpin on his release from prison.
Anderson, who photographed Strachan on numerous occasions, said: “Strachan was a bit of a character. He came from a wealthy family and wanted to be remembered for something. He was obsessed with fame or infamy and that was his downfall.”
The photographer, 55, has featured Strachan in a new book he has produced on some of Britain’s most notorious crooks called Faces 2, reports the Daily Record.
Ian Strachan pictured with members of the Turkish mob
(Image: Brian Anderson)
Revealing how Strachan was desperate to become a big-time criminal, Brian said: “The first time I met Strachan was in the Green Lanes part of London. He introduced me to Turks who were really dangerous guys. This was the Turkish mob who were drug dealers.
“He told me they were behind shipments of heroin and would blowtorch people. Strachan was sitting with them doing deals in front of me and the Turkish guys loved the attention.”
He added: “I knew he was well known and infamous for the Royal Blackmail plot. He later phoned me once from a cave in Afghanistan. He travelled in a private jet and saw himself as a criminal mastermind. He was a strange individual.”
It was around this time that Strachan offered to fly Anderson to South America for another photoshoot in his own private jet. But Brian believed Strachan was strung out on cocaine and prescription drugs, so decided it was an offer he should refuse.
He said: “Strachan was really obsessed with publicity. He wanted to fly me from Glasgow Airport in a private jet to Rio. He liked the good times and drugs. He was one for taking cocaine and I imagined getting on that flight with him.
“He wanted to pick me up at Glasgow airport and fly out from there. His parents were rich and money was no object, but I had to decline his offer. It was an opportunity I suppose but I didn’t want to die at the hands of Strachan on a private jet.”
Instead of flying high at Strachan’s expense, Brian snapped the blackmailer while the posh crook orchestrated deals with the Turkish mob. He added: “Strachan was a strange character who wanted me to photograph him. He seemed to be a Walter Mitty character.
“Another time I met him at the Ritz. He tried to get into the Ritz and they knocked him back because he had denims on. He really wasn’t happy about that.”
Ian Strachan
(Image: Studio Legale Internazionale/PA Wire)
He added: “I met Strachan through contacts. A lot of them heard I was involved in making the book, Faces, and they approached me. They wanted to be remembered in history, even the most dangerous guys.
“Even the most psychotic madmen are quite approachable when you explain what you are doing. They can actually be quite sensible. A guy could be a complete lunatic and when I explain myself they become quite reasonable.”
Strachan became a mini-celebrity due to his royal blackmail plot, which saw him jailed in 2008. He claimed to have mobile phone footage taken at a flat near Buckingham Palace showing an aide and a member of the royal family.
It showed cocaine from an envelope marked with the royal insignia being cut up on a coffee table with a Harrods card. It was then snorted by the aide.
Strachan and his accomplice, Sean McGuigan, tried to sell the footage to the press before the £50,000 blackmail bid. At a London hotel, they played the tapes to an undercover police officer posing as a royal employee – and Strachan was arrested.
At a 2008 trial, the aide, known only as employee Witness D, claimed his Royal boss, known only as Witness A, performed a sex act on him at a party, egged on by a Stringfellows stripper called Cindy. He said that on an earlier occasion the Royal, who did not give evidence, has earlier tried to grope him.
Strachan, who was born Paul Adalsteinsson in Aberdeen, was sentenced to five years in prison over the plot after a three-week trial that cost £1million.
Having been released after serving 22 months of his five-year sentence, a warrant was issued for Strachan’s arrest when he failed to meet his probation officer. While on the run, he boasted to pals on social media about a flash lifestyle in Monaco.
With dual Icelandic and British nationality, he used his non-UK passport to flee Britain and he claimed to have changed his appearance with plastic surgery. But there were doubts whether he made it to Monaco and whether he went under the knife.
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Strachan was found dead, aged 40, on Christmas Eve 2016 at his London flat. An inquest ruled he had killed himself by taking a lethal cocktail of drugs.
An addict, who previously suffered two heart attacks induced by his heavy cocaine usage, he had used several false names to obtain prescription drugs to feed his habit.
Toxicology reports found he had taken codeine, zopiclone and other prescription drugs mixed with milk. He also had cocaine in his system.
Strachan also took with him the State secret of who the royal family member was who had been involved in a gay sex and drugs blackmail plot.