Crime on film, and off, doesn't pay

The lesson that crime does not pay has been amply demonstrated to ex-Queen's Park Rangers boss Richard Thompson.

The lesson that crime does not pay has been amply demonstrated to ex-Queen's Park Rangers boss Richard Thompson.

On Friday his family friend and former business colleague Peter Leonard will be sentenced after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading, forgery and false accounting charges following the loss of more than £20m in derivatives trading at Muirpace, a company in which the Thompson family was a big investor.

And Gangster Number 1 - the first film produced since Mr Thompson's company, Civilian Content, bought production company Pagoda - has recouped less than a tenth of its budget at the cinema box office.

According to the authoritative film magazine Screen International, the movie, starring Paul Bettany, Malcolm McDowell and Saffron Burrows, has made just £325,552 at the box office. Civilian Content, which paid £2.4m for Pagoda last year, claims that the figure is higher than that - approaching £500,000 - but admits that the box office has been disappointing.

It, and co-backer Channel 4's Film Four, are considering re-releasing the film because they believe that the timing of the film's first weekend - which coincided with the England-Germany football game at Euro 2000 - was unfortunate.

Mr Thompson, whose past experiences in the media industry included owning the rights to Paddington Bear, believes that video sales and its potential abroad could help recoup the £4.5m that Gangster Number 1 cost to make.

His own share dealings, though, do not show the utmost faith. On 14 July, a month after the release of the movie, he sold 1.24 million shares in Civilian Content, recouping £434,000. Mr Thompson said he sold the shares to a fellow director, Tim Willis, and other people "who wanted the opportunity to be involved in the company".