AT last, justice of sorts for Stefan Eriksson, one of the key figures in the collapse of British computer- gaming company Gizmondo, which went spectacularly bust in February.

The 44-year-old Swede, who was raking in £800,000 a year from Gizmondo — while the company was racking up losses of almost £10m a month — has been jailed in California for three-and-a-half years.

But the jail term has little to do with Eriksson’s part in the collapse of Gizmondo — which deluded itself that it could take on Sony and Nintendo in hand-held gaming devices.

No, it was much more to do with his boyish obsession with fast cars.

Eriksson hit the headlines after crashing a limited-edition Ferrari Enzo in California in February while travelling at 160mph.

He was charged with embezzlement and theft when it emerged that the car — plus a second Ferrari and a Mercedes McLaren — had been taken into the US although they were owned by British banks under leasing deals.

Earlier this month, a jury failed to agree on a verdict. But now prosecutors have struck a plea bargain with Eriksson’s lawyers. The theft charges have been dropped, but Eriksson — who has criminal convictions in his native Sweden — has agreed to plead guilty to the embezzlement charges.

Eriksson has been in custody since April and could be out within a year.

The cars do, indeed, have a Gizmondo connection. They were leased through the company for Eriksson’s amusement while he was a director there.

Things got a bit sticky, however, when he moved to America, quit the company, and tried to hold on to the automotive exotica. Prosecutors have claimed that Eriksson tried to swindle two banks by hiding the ownership of one of the Ferraris and the Mercedes through business deals.

The party for all 9,500 staff is to be held at Alexandra Palace this coming Saturday — did we mention it’s unseasonably early as well as lavish? Ten life-size fake elephants will be shipped in from Bali to help enrich Carphone’s theme for the evening, Access All Asia. (That sounds over-ambitious, even if it’s in keeping with the firm’s ability to bite off more than it can chew.) Still, top marks to Hype Party Planning, which will make it all happen for Carphone boss Charles Dunstone, right.

Residents in Stow-on-the-Wold have lobbied the council for a breach-of- condition notice on the nearby “Harvey Nichols of the Cotswolds”, which has a spa as well as selling fruit and veg, because they are worried it is too big and popular.

But just months after the council announced it wouldn’t take action yet, I can reveal that Lady Carole, a former air hostess, has resumed the expansion of her empire.

Work has begun on yet another barn conversion, the purpose of which isn’t yet known. Still, things could be worse — it could be a Tesco Metro.

Pammy’s poker boob

BRITS aren’t the only people baling out of online gambling in the US. Hard on the heels of the likes of Party Gaming, 888 and Sportingbet, Pamela Anderson, one-time Baywatch star and former Playboy cover girl, has shut down her internet poker business, Pamelapoker.com. She told her official website: “I made a mistake getting involved in something I know nothing about for a quick buck.” So at least she has one thing in common with some of the City’s grey suits who similarly thought online gambling was an easy, get-rich-quick scheme.