Phil Shiner, a former human rights lawyer, is set to be sentenced for fraud linked to Iraq War claims, raising eyebrows over his controversial practices.
He’s 67 now and admitted that someone working for him was cold-calling potential clients in Iraq. Not cool, right? He also got caught paying referral fees, which totally broke the rules of his legal aid contract.
This whole mess led to the Al-Sweady inquiry, which looked into allegations of mistreatment and even unlawful killings by British troops back in 2004. The inquiry found that the most serious claims were “entirely false” and just a bunch of lies.
Shiner was the main solicitor at Public Interest Lawyers and had applied for a hefty £200,000 in legal aid to represent clients, including Khuder Al-Sweady. But he didn’t mention that his agent was making unsolicited calls to potential clients.
The National Crime Agency revealed that he raked in about £3 million from the contract, while the inquiry itself cost taxpayers a whopping £24 million. Talk about a financial hit!
The inquiry concluded that Al-Sweady’s nephew was actually killed while fighting and was involved in an attack on British forces. Shiner’s lack of transparency in his application allowed him to snag that valuable legal aid contract.
Now, he’s on bail and will be sentenced for three counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday. It’s a wild story, and many are waiting to see what happens next.