| Topic: | Wottasurprise - Shamed human rights lawyer faces sentencing for £3m legal aid scam ....... | |
| Posted by: | Rosco White | |
| Date/Time: | 10/12/24 12:55:00 |
| Woke Lefties are SO "Holier Than Thou." 🤣 Shamed human rights lawyer faces sentencing for £3m legal aid scam that falsely accused Iraq war veterans of murder and torture. Phil Shiner, 67, from Birmingham, has admitted three counts of fraud A disgraced former human rights lawyer is due to be sentenced today over a £3million legal aid scam involving claims against Iraq war veterans. Phil Shiner, 67, who was struck off for pursuing false torture and murder allegations against British soldiers, admitted three counts of fraud on the eve of his trial. A former soldier who was among those targeted has vowed to attend today's sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court, saying he wants to look Shiner in the eye as punishment is handed down. Robert Campbell, who was a major in the Royal Engineers, branded Shiner a liar who 'duped the legal establishment glitterati into thinking he was on some kind of crusade'. Shiner, who was the principal solicitor of the law firm Public Interest Lawyers, was struck off as a solicitor in 2017 at a tribunal after being found guilty of misconduct and dishonesty relating to false abuse claims against British troops. He will now be sentenced for fraud after admitting that an agent acting on his behalf had been cold-calling potential clients in Iraq. He also admitted paying referral fees, both of which breached the terms of being granted a legal aid contract as part of a judicial review. The charges carry a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. Shiner has been on bail since pleading guilty in September this year. Philip Shiner, who was struck off for pursuing false torture and murder allegations against British soldiers, is due to be sentenced after admitting three counts of fraud Shiner had brought thousands of criminal complaints to the Iraq Historic Investigations Team – a body set up by the Ministry of Defence to investigate soldiers. Not a single one was ever charged. Mr Campbell was accused of drowning Iraqi teenager Saeed Shabram in a river in Basra in May 2003, and was scrutinised in eight investigations into the 19-year-old's death, including one for possible manslaughter, before he was ultimately cleared. In 2020, judge Baroness Hallett decided there was 'no reliable evidence upon which it would be proper to conclude' that Mr Campbell or any other British soldier pushed or forced Mr Shabram into the water. Mr Campbell has now said ahead of today's sentencing: 'We were investigated eight times before we were exonerated because Phil Shiner just kept lying and lying and lying.' The 51-year-old, who was medically discharged from the army in 2018, added: 'I want to catch his eye. I want to look at him. I want to see what he looks like. 'I wish I could address the court but I can't because he's not actually being sentenced for lying about me he's just being sentenced for fraud.' Asked what he would say to the court if he had the opportunity, Mr Campbell said Shiner had 'duped the Ministry of Defence, he duped human rights groups, he duped the legal aid authority, he duped the BBC and he duped the legal establishment glitterati into thinking he was on some kind of crusade and he wasn't'. Shiner had made an application to the Legal Services Commission in 2007 in which he sought up to £200,000 of legal aid funding for his firm to represent clients including Khuder Al-Sweady, in an application for judicial review. Shiner, pictured outside London's High Court in January 2013, had brought thousands of criminal complaints to the Iraq Historic Investigations Team. No troops were charged as a result According to the National Crime Agency, he received about £3million in the value of the contract. And the ensuing Al-Sweady inquiry into allegations of mistreatment and unlawful killing of Iraqi nationals by British troops in 2004 cost the taxpayer £24million. The inquiry found that Mr Al-Sweady's nephew Hamid Al-Sweady had been killed 'outright' whilst fighting, and had been a 'willing and active' participant in an attack on British forces. It concluded that the most serious claims of murder and torture were ‘wholly without foundation and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility’. Shiner was later declared bankrupt after being struck off for dishonesty and other offences by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for pursuing false torture and murder allegations against British troops. In making his 2007 application, Shiner failed to disclose that an agent acting on his behalf and with his knowledge had been cold-calling and making unsolicited approaches to potential clients in Iraq. He also failed to disclose that he was paying referral fees. This practice was not permitted as part of gaining a legal aid contract, the NCA said. Shiner was also convicted for providing a witness statement to the commission in support of his application, which was again gained by an unsolicited approach. As a result of his failure to disclose this information, Shiner was able to gain a 'valuable legal aid contract to enable him to pursue the judicial review', the NCA said. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14176451/Disgraced-human-rights-lawyer-3million-legal-aid-scam-linked-claims-against-Iraq-War-veterans-sentenced-today-major-targeted-vows-want-look-eye.html |