Struck off, disgraced lawyer who hounded our Gulf War heroes
THE solicitor behind the hounding of Gulf War heroes with false claims that they murdered and tortured Iraqi detainees was struck off yesterday.
Phil Shiner’s firm Public Interest Lawyers made more than £1million by recruiting insurgents and their families prepared to falsely allege they were victims of British war crimes.
But his claims, made against Army veterans over more than a decade, were “wholly without foundation”.
And legal watchdogs have now barred him from practice, ordering him to pay £250,000 interim costs after finding him guilty of misconduct.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon welcomed the decision, saying: “Justice has finally been served.
“Phil Shiner made soldiers’ lives a misery by pursuing false claims of torture and murder – now he should apologise.”
The 60-year-old human rights lawyer did not attend the two-day Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority (SRA) hearing after claiming he was ill.
But the panel found him guilty in his absence of 12 misconduct charges, to add to nine he had previously admitted.
Colonel James Coote, 45, who won the DSO in Iraq in 2004, labelled Shiner’s hounding of soldiers “tank chasing”.
He said: “The last 12 years have been difficult to say the least. Those of us that were involved were accused of some of the most serious war crimes since the Second World War, including torture, mutilation and murder.
“These allegations were all shown to be false. Being accused was, in itself, a deeply unpleasant and harrowing experience. But it has been made all the worse by having to relive the horrors of battle in court.
“The stress that soldiers and their families have experienced has been unbearable.”
Andrew Tabachnik, for the SRA, told the inquiry Shiner generated claims against soldiers who fought in the Battle of Danny Boy in southern Iraq, in May 2004 when British troops were ambushed by 100 members of a Shia Muslim militia run by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
During the firefight, 28 Iraqis were killed and nine were taken prisoner, but released overnight.
Shiner recruited agents to “cold call” the surviving captives and relatives of the dead with a view to pursuing compensation claims.
Shiner’s allegations led to the Al-Sweady inquiry being set up at a cost of £25million to the taxpayer, £1million of which went to Shiner’s now-defunct firm.
The inquiry found Shiner’s allegations were “wholly without foundation” and based on “deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility”.
‘The stress caused to soldiers and families has been unbearable’