Design student found guilty of blackmailing high profile car designers

Engineers and marketing specialists invariably inject reality into a designer's original vision before it ever hits the streets. Despite these intrinsic modifications, one former design student claimed he created the original inspiration for the Mazda RX8, Audi TT, BMW Z3 and Volvo XC90. Guy Lloyd-Parker believed the vehicles were spawned from some of the 95 drawings that were stolen from him by college lecturers at The London College of Fashion in 1994. After Mr. Lloyd-Parker was unsuccessful in receiving compensation from the college, he went after the top designers at each of the above mentioned automobile manufacturers. He sent threatening letters to Tsutomu Matano (formerly of Mazda), Geza Loczi (Design Director of Volvo), and Henrik Fisker (formerly of BMW and currently associated with Aston Martin and his own bespoke company). The mailings, titled "The Truth," demanded large sums of money in exchange for withholding "the whole truth" from the media. The letters also called the designers "liars, thieves and cheats." Now it looks like the real truth has been revealed as Guy Lloyd-Parker has been found guilty of three accounts of blackmail.

[Source: Car Design News]