Satirical paper's editor killed

The co-founder of the scurrilous magazine Scallywag and editor of its successor, Spiked, has died in a road accident in Cyprus. Angus James was killed late on Saturday when the car he was in collided with a lorry as he returned with friends from a party with the fugitive businessman Asil Nadir.

The driver, understood to be Simon Stander, a friend of Mr James and part of the Spiked team, suffered bruising in the accident and was recovering in hospital in Cyprus yesterday. Mr James, who was in his thirties, was notorious for upsetting the Establishment and received a series of libel writs with scandalous allegations about the Prime Minister and other leading political figures.

His visit to northern Cyprus was thought to be part of a plan to put his latest magazine venture on a firm financial footing with the help of Mr Nadir, a former contributor to Scallywag.

Two women in the party escaped unhurt and flew back to Britain. David Price, the magazine's lawyer, flew out to Cyprus to see Mr Stander and assist with any inquiries.

Simon Regan, Mr James' older half-brother and co-founder of Scallywag, said: "They came off a mountain road after a party with Nadir. They had just clinched a deal to get Nadir to back the magazine." Mr Regan said he hoped Spiked would continue in Mr James's memory.

The more serious Spiked came into being after legal action forced the notorious Scallywag into abeyance.