A former human rights lawyer has been spared jail over fraud charges linked to false abuse claims made against British troops in Iraq.
Phil Shiner was struck off as a solicitor in 2017 at a tribunal after being found guilty of misconduct and dishonesty relating to false claims against veterans of the Iraq War.
The 67-year-old was given a two-year jail sentence suspended for two years for three counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, after previously admitting that an agent acting on his behalf had been cold-calling potential clients in Iraq.
Judge Christopher Hehir said “although there was obvious dishonesty”, he did not think the former lawyer was “motivated by personal greed”.
Sentencing Shiner, who was the principal solicitor of the law firm Public Interest Lawyers, Judge Hehir said: “He got carried away with enthusiasm by his client’s cause and his judgement suffered as a result.”
Addressing Shiner, who had been made bankrupt, the judge said: “You have already suffered professional and personal ruin and I do not consider it necessary to add to that by sending you straight to prison.”
He added: “You better than most will understand what a suspended sentence order means.”
The judge said the offending had taken place “a very long time ago” and Shiner had “not reoffended since”, adding that he had character references from “people of considerable distinction”.
Richard Thomas KC, mitigating, said Shiner had “suffered professional ruin”.
Shiner, who was wearing a navy pinstripe suit and a red tie, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed down.
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.
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), he received around £3 million 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 cost the taxpayer £24 million.
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 “entirely false” and the product of “deliberate lies”.
During sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Hehir told the court: “The defendant isn’t being sentenced for anything that happened at the Al-Sweady inquiry, nor can it be said the judicial proceedings of the Al-Sweady inquiry in any sense represent harm.
“They were part of a judicial process that in the end led to some very firm conclusions.”
In making his application to the Legal Services Commission, 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, which is not permitted as part of gaining a legal aid contract.
A former soldier said he was “pretty disgusted” by the decision to give Shiner a suspended sentence.
Robert Campbell, who was a major in the Royal Engineers, was accused of drowning Iraqi teenager Saeed Shabram in a river in Basra in May 2003, and was scrutinised in eight investigations, including one for possible manslaughter, before he was ultimately cleared.
Speaking outside court, Mr Campbell said: “The listing in court was a very benign documents case that didn’t reflect the human element of what he has done in the slightest.
“Of course he should have gone to jail. His poison has spread far beyond the Iraq War.”
Former Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer said Shiner was a “modern day traitor” who had “destroyed” lives, adding he was “aided and abetted by an inept Ministry of Defence”.
In a post on social media, the former Conservative MP added that the sentence was a “visceral demonstration of the patronising disdain too many in this country still have for the lived experience of UK Veterans”.
Hilary Meredith-Beckham, a solicitor who has represented veterans, said the sentencing did not take into account “the catastrophic, snowballing effect of Shiner’s fraudulent actions on thousands of shattered lives and military careers”.
Ms Meredith-Beckham added: “All those members of the legal system who sent character letters in support of Shiner should hang their heads in shame.
“This man drummed up business by paying fixers to find cases and profited from it by lying to the Legal Aid Board in what the judge called a thoroughly dishonest fashion.
“Furthermore, the MoD who employed and trained all those falsely accused, didn’t stand by them in what the parliamentary select committee called a vote of rot within the MoD itself.
“They should compensate those who were wrongly and disgracefully accused.”
Sian Mitchell, a CPS specialist prosecutor, said Shiner “defrauded a statutory legal body for his own selfish motives”.
Ms Mitchell added: “As a result of the deliberate failure to disclose his serious breaches of the rules governing legal aid and his professional code of conduct, Shiner was able to retain his highly lucrative legal aid contract and obtain taxpayer-funded legal aid payments.”
The CPS has commenced confiscation proceedings in order to reclaim the proceeds of the fraud.
