Jailed for fraud

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been sentenced to over 11 years in prison for defrauding investors in her blood testing start-up that was once valued at $9bn (£7.5bn).

The former Silicon Valley star falsely claimed the technology could diagnose disease with just a few drops of blood.

Holmes, 38, who is pregnant, tearfully told the court she felt "deep pain" for those misled by the scam.

She was found guilty in January after a three-month trial.

Holmes is expected to appeal against the sentence, which was handed down on Friday in a California court.

Once hailed as the "next Steve Jobs", she was at one time said to be the world's youngest self-made billionaire.

She launched Theranos after dropping out of Stanford University at age 19, and its value rose sharply after the company claimed it could bring about a revolution in disease diagnosis.

But the technology Holmes touted did not work and - awash in lawsuits - the company was dissolved by 2018.

At Holmes' trial in San Jose, California, prosecutors said she knowingly misled doctors and patients about Theranos' flagship product - the Edison machine - which the company claimed could detect cancer, diabetes and other conditions using just a few drops of blood.

They also accused Holmes of vastly exaggerating the firm's performance to its financial backers.

Jurors ultimately found her guilty on four counts of fraud, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. But they found her not guilty on four other charges, and failed to reach a verdict on three more.

Before Judge Edward Davila issued his sentence on Friday, Holmes read a speech to the court in which she tearfully apologised to investors and patients.

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63685131