Black starts jail sentence in US

The former owner of the Daily Telegraph was convicted of three counts of fraud and one of obstructing justice.

The fraud involved millions of dollars that was siphoned-off from his media firm Hollinger International.

The UK peer will serve his sentence at a low-security prison 50 miles north west of Orlando in central Florida. He will also have to pay back $6.1m (£3m).

Appeal process

Jurors at the original trial were shown video evidence of him removing boxes of evidence from his Toronto office, in violation of a judge's order.

Together with his business associates, Black was convicted of stealing millions of dollars from shareholders of Hollinger International, of which he was chairman.

They were found to have paid themselves tax-free bonuses from the sale of newspaper assets without the approval of the company's board.

Two of Black's co-defendants, Peter Y Atkinson and John Boultbee, were allowed to remain free while appealing against their sentences.

A judge at the federal appeals court said Black and the two former executives had raised a "substantial" question on two of the three counts of fraud.

But there was less chance any appeals court would overturn Black's conviction of obstruction of justice, the judge said.