US prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Lord Black of Crossharbour to extra prison time for his “stunning lack of remorse” after the disgraced press baron gave a defiant interview in which he denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors in the former Telegraph chairman's fraud case have filed a recording of the interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme with the court before his sentencing in Chicago on Monday.

In the interview on Friday, Black, now free on $21 million (£10 million) bail at his ocean-front Florida estate, declared that he had done “absolutely nothing” wrong and claimed that he was the victim of persecution.

“If I appeared and sounded humble, I would be described as a broken, disgraced man who is admitting he's a criminal. Well, the fact is I am innocent,” he said. “When you are innocent and when you are wrongly accused, how do you conduct yourself? Do you roll over and say, 'Well, I'm innocent, but since I've been found guilty, I'm going to be humble and full of remorse?' I would have thought not.”

Prosecutors seized on the interview as evidence that he continues to refuse to accept responsibility for his crimes after his conviction in July for financial fraud and obstruction of justice. “To this day, Black maintains his offences of conviction were 'rubbish' and 'nonsense', and that the criminal justice system is 'essentially ... a substitute for a wealth-redistribution policy',” Eric Sussman, the lead prosecutor, wrote in a submission to the judge on Monday. “Black's conduct makes clear that he would engage in the very same conduct again if given the opportunity.”

The prosecution is demanding that Black serve a prison term of 24-30 years. Prosecutors argue that he deserves a particularly harsh sentence under American guidelines because he abused a position of trust, used “sophisticated means” and was the ringleader of the crime. But a leaked confidential pre-sentencing report prepared by a probation officer pointed to a sentence of less than ten years.

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