Former British boxing champion stripped of honour

Former world featherweight boxing champion "Prince" Naseem Hamed, who was convicted and jailed last year for dangerous driving, has been stripped of an honour bestowed on him by Britain's Queen Elizabeth in 1998.

According to web site of the London Gazette, the official newspaper of the crown, the queen ordered Hamed's MBE honour should be annulled as of December 12, 2006.

Hamed was released early from jail last September after serving only a few weeks of a 15-month sentence for dangerous driving and seriously injuring a motorist when he crashed his Mercedes sports car at a speed of around 90 miles per hour head-on into another car in England's Peak District.

The other driver,

The London Gazette notice said: "The Queen has directed that the appointment of Naseem Hamed to be a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 31 December 1998, shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order."

British media quoted Hamed's former trainer, Brendan Ingle, as saying it would be a big blow for him to lose the honour.

"This will really upset him," Ingle told the Mirror newspaper. "He was delighted at receiving the award from the Queen. Afterwards he was so proud he used to show it to everyone."